I was especially struck by the Audre Lorde reading this week. In her article, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” Lorde discusses how even though “subordinate” groups are united in their oppression, the differences within these groups frequently go without recognition because they are seen as a “threat.” She uses the example of feminism within the Black community, and how female assertiveness is construed as lesbianism because it is perceived as a threat to Black unity.
I used to listen to talk radio frequently, and my favorite pundit was Larry Elder, a black “Republitarian,” as he frequently described himself, a combination of a Republican and Libertarian. He would frequently receive calls from black listeners calling him an “Uncle Tom,” telling him he was “carrying water for the White man,” that he “wanted to be White,” and all manner of vile comments. He would try to engage the callers in a debate about what exactly they took issue with about his views, and the answer would usually boil down to this: Elder was a traitor to his race because he was black and conservative.
As a person who follows news and politics closely, I can say that the accusations leveled against Elder on his show were not unusual. I would frequently hear so-called “leaders” within the black community attack black conservatives in the public eye, such as Clarence Thomas, Mason Weaver, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and even Bill Cosby, with similar charges.
As a person outside this community, I can only guess as to what is truly going on here. But perhaps Lorde’s assessment—that difference or dissent within “subordinate” communities isn’t easily tolerated because it is perceived as a threat to their unity—applies here. There isn’t anything intrinsic to the tenets of the Democratic party which benefit the black community or all American citizens in general. In fact, there are Republicans—black, white, green, purple, whatever—who would even argue the opposite is true. But somehow, a Black person disagreeing politically with others in the Black community is a betrayal, and is somehow subversive.
But as I thought about it, this lack of tolerance for dissent from the group is not so far from my own experience being a conservative within the Jewish community. Although no one overtly says it to me, I too am a traitor to my Jewish community because I do not identify with Democratic party principles and values. I have to keep my opinions to myself when a rabbi delivers a liberal sermon, or when I attend a family dinner and the subject of politics comes up. In the Jewish community, the perception is that the Democratic party stands for social justice—whether or not that is really true, of course, is a matter of opinion—but somehow I am bad or wrong in my community because I disagree.
Perhaps the moral of the story here is that if people within minority groups want to be seen as whole people rather than just as representatives of whatever “subordinate” trait they possess, individuality and difference of opinion should be celebrated rather than treated as a corrosive force.
