...that has been the main question I've gotten since starting my foray into political punditry.
The feedback I've received has ranged anywhere from "Why do you feel the need to point out that you're white?" all the way to "Conservative White Guy? Isn't that phrase a bit redundant?" It's certainly gotten people to start talking, and I suppose that was the intent. It seems that almost everyone who I've spoken with who has seen the blog up to this point has wondered: "Just where in the Hell are you coming from with this thing?"
Well, for starters, let me make one thing perfectly clear--I believe that my race (or for that matter, anybody else's race) is about the most insignificant factor that you can look at when it comes to judging somebody or forming an opinion about them. I don't look at being "white" as a positive or a negative characteristic...for lack of a better term, it just "is". Neither good, bad, or indifferent. To me, being a "Conservative White Guy" should be no different that a "Conservative Black Guy", a "Conservative Latina Girl", a "Conservative Asian Chick", or a "Conservative Alaskan Mama Grizzly"--the only important word in those descriptions is "Conservative"--all the other words in those descriptions should be considered completely meaningless.
But if that's the case--if that next to last word really is irrelevant, then why did I bother to use the "W word" in the title?
It is because many on the Left actually DO consider the "W word" to be a massively important part of the description. By no means is it uncommon to hear references in pop culture (or even the mainstream news media) to terms like "Conservative White Guys", "Conservative White Males", "Old, Rich, White, Republicans", "Angry White Men", etc. And these references are generally quite negative in nature--do this quick exercise: google the term "Conservative White Guy". Notice how many of the results paint CWG's in a very negative, even angry, light. (Two of my favorites: "Why fat White Men are Conservative" and "Glenn Beck gets to ask dumb-white guy questions to a room full of black Conservatives"). Not exactly a treasure trove of unity and color-blindness coming from the Left in those results!
And in the run-up to the 2008 Presidential Election, how many people (famous or otherwise) do you remember hearing say that they wouldn't vote for John McCain "because he's another old, rich, white guy"? (Be honest)
So because there is--for whatever reason--some sort of negative connotation assigned to Conservatism because of those of us who happen to be White, I figured I'd be up front about it and admit, "Yes, I'm white." I don't think that fact has any significance, but for some reason, many on the Left seem to think that it does. If the Left wants to play the race card with myself and other Conservatives, then I think it's high time that we engaged them on the topic rather than running away from it. You'll notice, if you pay any attention to current events whatsoever, that it's the Left who always brings race into the conversation-- it's very rarely the Right. Perhaps they think that whenever they bring up race, that Conservatives will run for higher ground and stop discussing the issues (and to be fair, for the second half of the 20th Century, that's exactly what most Conservatives did...we would very rarely engage the Left on this type of issue, and I think that's been one of the biggest mistakes that we as a movement have made). Perhaps by actually engaging the Left in this type of discussion. we will finally bring to light one of the best-kept secrets in all of American Politics...
...that when it comes to bigotry, hatred, and closed-mindedness, nobody can hold a candle to the American Left.
Coming Soon: My 12 Key Concepts of Conservatism
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