White Supremacy In Blackface: The Curious Case Of Herschel Walker Baptist News Global
White Supremacy In Blackface: The Curious Case Of Herschel Walker – Baptist News Global https://digitalarizonanews.com/white-supremacy-in-blackface-the-curious-case-of-herschel-walker-baptist-news-global/
Blackface is one of the disgraceful aspects of American history.
Popularized in the United States after the Civil War, blackface involved white performers playing characters that demeaned and dehumanized African Americans. These offensive and blatantly racist performances were done in minstrel shows and, eventually, on screen. Performers transformed themselves into caricatures of Black people by using burnt cork, greasepaint or shoe polish.
Advertisement for a minstrel show featuring blackface.
In the 21st century, there is a particularly pernicious type of blackface that utilizes actual Black bodies to promote white supremacy. It often involves the white-dominated Republican Party using Black men and women to forward a reactionary political agenda that is harmful to Black lives.
This “Blaxploitation,” as it were, is on full display in a number of individuals. These include Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain, Candace Owens and Stacey Dash. However, the most recent iteration of this phenomenon is the former football great Herschel Walker.
Unfit for office
Walker is the GOP nominee in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Georgia, endorsed by former President Donald Trump. He is running against the current senator, Raphael Warnock. Also a Black man, Warnock is a member of the Democratic Party and pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
“By every objective measure, Walker is wholly unqualified and unfit for the office he seeks.”
By every objective measure, Walker is wholly unqualified and unfit for the office he seeks. He obviously doesn’t understand the basics of government and public affairs. Also, it has been reported that he has a history of violence toward women. His ex-wife stated, “The first time he held a gun to my head, he held a gun to my temple and said he was gonna blow my brains out.”
It has been reported by The Daily Beast that, in 2009, Walker paid for a woman to have an abortion. Credible evidence of the same has been presented by the woman in question. Subsequently, it was reported that Walker asked the same woman to have a second abortion. She refused. The child whom they conceived is now 10 years old.
Walker is running on a platform that includes a national ban on abortion with no exceptions. Many see this as the height of hypocrisy, given what has been reported. But, to many “pro-life” supporters (many of whom are white evangelicals), two things make Walker useful as a candidate: He has name recognition, and he has a Black face.
These same Republicans historically have railed against supporters of affirmative action. But, as was the case when Clarence Thomas was nominated for the Supreme Court, white Republicans have rallied behind Walker. Walker being Black provides them with cover to claim they’re not racist because of their willingness to vote for him.
“He would be an instrument of white supremacy, rather than an advocate for people of color.”
Walker has made several nearly unintelligible comments about important policy issues. In fact, Walker’s remarks in four areas indicate he would be a servant of the privileged few, rather than a champion for the common good. He would be an instrument of white supremacy, rather than an advocate for people of color.
Voting rights
When asked where he stands on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which Warnock supports, Walker made it quite clear he is not in favor of the proposed legislation. He said, “You know what’s sad about that — to use the name of a great man to brand something that is so bad, I think it is terrible to do. Sen. Lewis was one of the greatest senators that’s ever been and for African Americans that was absolutely incredible. To throw his name on a bill for voting rights I think is a shame.”
Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker walks off the stage during a rally featuring former US President Donald Trump on September 25, 2021 in Perry, Georgia. Georgia Secretary of State candidate Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) and Georgia Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate State Sen. Burt Jones (R-GA) also appeared as guests at the rally. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
One would think any candidate for a national office would know Lewis was not a senator but a member of the House of Representatives. Further, to say the bill “doesn’t fit what John Lewis stood for” is tantamount to saying, “Kobe Bryant was not especially passionate about basketball.”
An icon of the Civil Rights movement, Lewis shed his life’s blood for the purpose of securing equal voting rights for Black citizens. Most notably, this occurred on a “Bloody Sunday” in 1965, as Lewis and others were brutally beaten by Alabama state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
There is a systematic effort on the part of Republicans around the country to pass more restrictive voting laws, making it harder for people to vote. Such laws disproportionately impact African Americans and other people of color. Walker’s comments indicate he would do nothing to protect the voting rights of people who look like him.
Critical Race Theory
In evaluating Walker’s fitness for office, one should also consider what he’s said about Critical Race Theory. At a rally in Atlanta, Walker exclaimed, “I’m sick and tired of them wanting to teach ‘CTR’ in school.”
He got the abbreviation for Critical Race Theory (CRT) wrong. But one could argue that was a gaffe, albeit a very awkward one. The bigger issue is that he’s bought into the myth perpetuated by right-wing propagandists that Critical Race Theory is taught in schools all around the country. In actuality, it’s primarily taught in certain law schools.
The manufactured CRT “Red Scare” Walker is pushing is really about outlawing any truthful discussions in schools concerning racism. It’s also about perpetuating a romanticized historical narrative that’s rooted in American exceptionalism. This does not foster patriotism in students, but a misinformed and misguided nationalism. Walker is apparently on board with this.
Colorblindness
During the same speech in Atlanta, Walker said: “We’re Americans. We’re not Black. We’re not white.” To be sure, Walker is propagating colorblindness. The problem with a colorblind conception within American society is that white always has been the default color. Whiteness is seen as the ideal into which non-whites should assimilate.
“Whiteness is seen as the ideal into which non-whites should assimilate.”
In her book White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America, Anthea Butler said, “A call for colorblindness seems peculiar in a nation wherein race has been the most critical and the most powerful issue in effecting political change.”
While it is true that race is a social construction, it is also true that race is the most salient determinant of social power. Colorblindness is both naive and dismissive of this reality. To say to a person of color, “I don’t see color” is the same as saying, “I don’t see you, or the unique struggles that are associated with your color.”
Colorblindness enables a candidate such as Walker to totally disregard racial disparities at play within the communities he’s seeking to represent.
African Americans make up half of Atlanta’s residents, but 80% of its Black children live in high-poverty neighborhoods with little access to health care, compared to 6% of white children.
“Atlanta has the widest gap in breast cancer mortality rates between African American women and white women of any U.S. city.”
According to a study in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Atlanta has the widest gap in breast cancer mortality rates between African American women and white women of any U.S. city. It also is the city with the nation’s highest death rate for Black men with prostate cancer— 49.7 deaths per 100,000 residents. According to the National Cancer Institute, the mortality rate for white men in Atlanta is 19.3.
I’m sure Walker is clueless about all these disparities.
Environmental concerns
While speaking at a Hall County GOP event, Walker made some remarks about air pollution that came across more like a stand-up comedy routine than a specific policy statement. In this case, however, peoples’ health and survival are at stake, and that’s not a laughing matter.
Walker said: “We in America have some of the cleanest air and cleanest water of anybody in the world. … Since we don’t control the air, our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air, so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So, it moves over to our good air space. Then, now, we got to clean that back up.”
Two things should be noted relative to Walker’s nonsensical comments. First, according to the Yale Environmental Performance Index, the United States only ranks 43rd out of 180 countries in overall environmental quality and 16th in air quality. Second, reputable studies have shown that, in terms of air quality, China and the United States are two of the world’s biggest polluters, although both have made improvements in recent years.
Some researchers contend that environmental racism is the leading cause of death in communities of color. According to a report by Scientific American, “air pollution and extreme heat are killing inner-city residents at a higher rate than almost all other causes.”
Walker said at another campaign event, “Don’t we have enough trees around here?” By doing so, more of his callousness toward marginalized communities was exposed.
The bottom line
Herschel Walker is bad for voting rights, bad for education, bad for addressing disparities among Georgians, bad for the environment. Like his “friend” Donald Trump, he has been prolific at lying. He has lied about his academic record, his previous work experience, his business dealings, his earnin...
