“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
This rather bold assertion came not from Al Sharpton, but former Vice President and verified white man Joe Biden. The Democratic presidential candidate made the remarks on “The Breakfast Club,” hosted by Charlamagne Tha God, one of the most popular black radio hosts in the country. Even Charlamagne seemed taken aback by this statement: since when is Joe Biden the arbiter of who is “really” black? What qualifications does he have to make such a distinction? (His many disqualifications, such as bragging that fellow Democrat and racist lunatic George Wallace praised him as one of the “outstanding young politicians of America,” were not mentioned.)
Liberals rushed to explain that Biden’s comments were no big deal. A liberal friend even wrote on Facebook, “Nobody cares about the Biden remark and anyone pretending to care is lying.” But, as the co-host of “The Todd Allyn Show,” a radio program fronted by a black economics professor on a black-owned radio network in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, I got to witness the reaction from several actual African-Americans via our show’s group chat. Here were what my black co-hosts thought of Biden’s remarks:
“This is the unmasking of a white liberal,” Todd Allyn joked. “We need a special show just for this.”
“I’m actually happy he said this,” said our co-host Khalid Namar, another real black man, regardless of what Joe Biden thinks. “This is astonishing...even for Magoo.”
But the angriest reaction came from our producer, an African-American man who also falls into the coveted 18-to-35 demographic: “It’s outrageous. Absolutely outrageous. That was the most bigoted thing I’ve ever heard him say…That’s so insulting.” Then, he wrote to me specifically: “You should write an article on Townhall about Biden’s bigoted comments and nuke his a--.”
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So, here I am. And while I can’t speak for the black community on their reaction to Biden—because, unlike Biden himself, I know black people are individuals with their own thoughts and opinions—I know enough white liberals to assess why they feel comfortable making absurd, pompous declarations like this. For as much as they scream about "fascism," "Nazis," "racism," and how Republicans hate "black and brown people," few liberals are capable of recognizing their own subconscious racism. Many liberals treat people of color like overgrown children who need to be told how to vote, how to spend their money, and how to raise their children. They then pat themselves on the back for "helping" these communities by imposing their own ideas and beliefs on them.
If you look at it like this, is it any wonder that the professions most involved in policing black people are dominated by liberals (with the exception of the actual police)? One of the most heavily Democratic occupations is social work, where there are 93 Democrats for every 7 Republicans. Of course, some people go into social work with the goal of helping the poor and underserved. But considering that a degree in social work is often a requirement to become a probation officer or work for Child Protective Services, is it far-fetched to suspect that some enter the social work profession with the goal of Straightening Out the Blacks?
“The child welfare system claims to be a non-adversarial legal system dedicated to ensuring the well-being and safety of children,” Dorothy Roberts and Lisa Sangoi wrote in an article titled“Black Families Matter.”“This claim obscures the oppressive political role it plays in monitoring, regulating, and punishing poor families and Black, brown, and indigenous families. The mass removal of Black children from their families in some ways parallels the U.S. criminal legal system’s mass removal of Black men and women from their communities.”
While liberals in these professions might enjoy their position of power over black and other marginalized people, studies show they don’t think very highly of the people in their charge. Yale University, hardly a bastion of conservatism, found that white liberals “dumb down” their language and pretend to be less competent when addressing minorities—but conservatives do not.
“Most Whites, particularly socio-political liberals, now endorse racial equality. Archival and experimental research reveals a subtle but reliable ironic consequence: White liberals self-present less competence to minorities than to other Whites—that is, they patronize minorities stereotyped as lower status and less competent,” the study found. (To be fair, when it comes to social workers, the “dumbing down” might not be an act: studies consistently find that social workers have the lowest IQs and the lowest average SAT and ACT scores of any profession requiring a college degree.) Could this be why Biden felt the need to use the phrase “you ain’t black” during an interview with a black radio host, instead of using standard English and saying, “you’re not black?” Joe Biden might get tongue-tied frequently, but before black audiences, his use of non-standard English always seems deliberate. Another of Biden’s gems was telling a primarily black audience in Danville, Virginia, in 2012 that Republicans “will put y’all back in chains.” Of course, when Biden is on the debate stage, words like “ain’t” and “y’all” are conspicuously absent.
The media will spend the rest of the week glossing over Biden’s comments, downplaying them as something no black person cares about. But my producer, Darvio, described his remarks best: “Typical white liberal values. If you aren’t down with me you ain’t black enough. After all, I love you people. My great grand-daddy took care of you on his farm!”
Note to white liberals: it’s 2020, not 1820. The plantation is closed for business. It’s far from your place to tell black people whether they’re “really” black based on whether you have their vote.
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