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We Should Be Celebrating Candace and Carol, Not Kanye
For years we’ve wanted to see more African American conservatives who aren’t afraid to speak up for the cause. There are already outstanding examples in Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, Jason Riley, and Shelby Steele, among others. Now, we have two black women — one a millennial activist and one a woman running for mayor of Nashville — who are both conservatives. These are the people we should be talking about.
Candace Owens is the Director of Communications for Turning Point USA. She explains what the organization stands for: fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets. She travels all over the country, encouraging people to dialogue with her and consider joining a TPUSA campus affiliate or form their own group. She is fearless, outspoken, and convincing. Many things that she says serve to empower black Americans.
Here are some comments that she has made in her campus speeches and TV appearances:
Black people are not a monolith. I can think differently from Angela (Davis). We are not ideological slaves. I do not have to think like her, she does not have to think like me because of the color of our skin . . .
Every single thing that Black people are going through in this country is because of Democratic policies, because of the welfare system and because individuals like you who don’t allow us to have different ideas and believe in free market capitalism . . .
I’ve been really strong-minded from the time I was a little girl, and I hate being told what to think. So propaganda just doesn’t really work on me. I’m not afraid . . .
You can’t be afraid to be referred to as a “coon” or an ‘Uncle Tom,’ which, by the way, Uncle Tom, for people that actually read the book, was the hero of the novel. That term does not work . . .
It’s going to take people with some courage to step up and say, ‘You can call me whatever you want, this movement is happening. You can get on board or you can watch it.’
Now, let me introduce you to Professor Carol Swain.
I first came across Professor Swain when she appeared in Dinesh D’Souza’s movie, Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party. As a result of her appearance and other public comments, an online petition was circulated in November 2015, as reported by the Washington Times, “demanding she be suspended for alleged discriminatory practices in the classroom.” The petition said in part:
Although Miss Swain is free to speak openly and have her own views, no matter how disagreeable they may be, it is generally unprofessional to attach your job title to a channel promoting your personally held beliefs. Keeping personal beliefs and University-endorsed statements separate is crucial to maintaining the integrity of Vanderbilt’s values. Students also accuse her of ‘expressing hatred towards minorities,’ EAG [News] reported. The petition demands that Miss Swain be suspended so that administrators can ‘confer with the ACLU to create and mandate a diversity training program for all Vanderbilt faculty — including Professor Carol Swain — to increase their cultural awareness, foster inclusion of various identity groups, prevent discrimination in the classroom, and to protect the University against inadvertent civil rights violation.’
Swain’s personal story is one that quite literally exemplifies the American dream. She grew up in southwestern Virginia, living in extreme poverty with her mother, stepfather, and 11 other siblings. A short documentary on Swain’s life tells the story most accurately.
Swain was such a trailblazer of her time that when she wanted an academic scholarship, but was told that as a black woman it would not be possible, she set out to start her own. She went to a wealthy black man in the area and simply asked him to help her start her own academic scholarship program for black students. Swain proudly relayed that the academic scholarship she started continues to reward eight to nine minority students every year.
Now she is running for mayor of Nashville.
Nashville had the second highest murder rate in its history. Property prices have gone sky high. Corruption and the Democrats have dominated city investment:
Swain’s fight for Nashville is not one isolated to Nashville. It’s a broader fight for American cities that have had to endure rapid mass immigration, increasing housing costs, crime, and sanctuary city policies – all at the hands of wealthy, well-connected power players.
Along the way, Swain is optimistic that the fight for America’s cities won’t stop with her.
‘I’m hoping there will be a lot of other people that will follow my example,’ Swain says.
Let’s spend our time talking about real black conservatives — not Kanye West.
Published in Politics
Exactly! Maybe he’s not a “real black conservative”–maybe I’m not a traditional conservative, maybe Trump isn’t–the point is, he’s cracking the carapace of the smelly old reptile American politics had become! And there’s always more of a fuss made over the Prodigal, the lost penny.
That was the first one I saw too.
You might just be making a general statement here, but I want to reiterate that I’m not against a focus on Kanye, but only that he’s getting a lot more press (especially with the mainstream media) than other honorable black conservatives are. That’s my point. I don’t listen to his music, but aside from his latest song, I wonder how admirable his lyrics are.
I saw this one, too @bossmongo, and I loved it! For the record, she had another video that explained that she is not actually gay; she just thought that would fit well in the script. And she was right!
@susanquinn Thanks for bringing these two ladies to our attention. Neither one was on my radar. I think I first heard of Kanye with the Taylor Swift award incident (It was him, wasn’t it?) If he is moving in the right direction that is a good thing. I’m not all that tuned in to the modern celebrity culture, but it is good to find out about serious people who might be making a positive impact. An interview on a Ricochet podcast might be a good thing if someone would arrange that.
I am responding mainly to this :
We Should Be Celebrating Candace and Carol, Not Kanye
CandaceO is amazing. Thanks to Kanye, she’s getting a lot more exposure. That’s a very good thing.
I couldn’t care less about how “admirable” Kanye’s lyrics were – as mentioned, he’s not in my wheelhouse. But I’m hearing a lot of good things about the lyrics in his latest. (And if it’s such a concern, why wonder? His lyrics are a mere google search away.)
What’s the point of complaining that the mainstream press is giving more attention to Kanye than others deemed more worthy? Just be grateful that thanks to that attention, the mainstream press is being forced to give attention to others they would have happily ignored.
I really need to see D’Souza’s movie. I do recall the ruckus though. Thank you for posting the clip, @susanquinn.
I think you have chosen to misrepresent what I’m saying, @annefy. I’m not sure why you’re doing that. I was going to address a lot of what you’ve said, but I’m not going to do that.
It really is worth your time. I learned a lot from it, and Carol Swain was a big part of that education. I admire her so much; she’s been harassed by the left for a long time and isn’t deterred.
Back to our regularly scheduled programing where we only talk about “real” black conservatives.
My goodness, you really do want to pick a fight. Why? Do you think Kanye would call himself a conservative? I’m so sorry that you don’t appreciate that these two powerful black women are not getting the publicity they deserve. I think Kanye should get recognition; I have no problem with that. But that these kinds of women who have stepped up and owned the conservative message, and Carol Swain for years are ignored–yes, it does bother me when the mainstream press ignores them. I doubt that Kanye’s fans are watching Fox News.
Lastly, I have never, ever labelled people saying they are not “real” conservatives. And you know that, @annefy. As I said, I doubt that Kanye would say he is one. Please find someone else to fight with. I’m finished interacting with you on this post.
Politics is downstream from culture-A.B. and this is the glacier on the mountain melting. Kanye is a huge star ( just because we don’t encounter him doesn’t mean anything about his influence ) I sense too many of us are exposing our lack of knowledge about this guy.
(Was there a comment suggesting the Ricochet podcast should have him on? Lol They’d have a better chance getting Bob Dylan)
It’s a HUGE deal that this man has mentioned Candice Owens positively. It doesn’t matter what his personal politics are. People are talking about him because he’s the famous guy – like, really famous and highly respected as an artist and entrepreneur.
So of course the focus will be on him, but Candace Owens is instantly immortalized by his attention has probably tripled her following, and this represents a seismic cultural shift.
I agree, @franco. I liked what @drewnowwithdragonenergy and @columbo said: how about both/and? With all the stuff that gets thrown at these fine women, I just wanted to recognize them.
I hope by now that I’ve been more clear than where I started. My goal was not to say that Kanye wasn’t a true conservative–yes, that’s what I said, but my intention was not to discount Kanye, but rather criticize the media that has hyped him and ignored other blacks, particularly black women, who own that they are conservatives and have contributed a great deal. I’m glad Kanye did what he did. I know he did it at great cost. Let’s just use this time to let others know that these other people are fighting for conservative values, too.
I hope I haven’t started another fire, but I just wanted to be understood.
No worries, Susan. But I think you have this one backwards. The media doesn’t hype Kanye, they use Kanye to hype themselves. Mr West has a bigger following and more respect by far than they do individually or collectively. The media focus on fame, if someone isn’t already super-famous they ignore them, black, white or otherwise. Thomas Sowell doesn’t have 21 Grammy awards. Yes he’s really smart and insightful but that’s just not going to get attention. Thomas Sowell doesn’t have 15 million Twitter followers.
Its like Candice Owens just got 2 million dollars worth of free advertising to a large subset of the black community who would otherwise have never encountered her. Moreover she can be seen by Kanye fans with an open mind. I’m very interested in hearing how many new subscribers she gets as a result of this.
I find myself annoyed by those I’ve heard warning about KWs questionable conservatism. That’s not the point. Of course he’s not a ‘conservative’, what matters is that he’s not buying the lefty narrative. That’s huge.
Once enough African Americans begin to see through the Democrat minstrel show, there will be a sea change.
There is plenty of pent-up frustration with Democrats, combined with a temptation to agree with conservatives on many cultural issues in the black community and this gives these folks a permission slip to realign.
It’s already happening, but this is a big milestone.
That’s a good question. It seems like Kanye West is supportive of Donald Trump because he knows him personally and they are friends. That is fine, but we shouldn’t mistake that for an endorsement of conservative principles. West recently complained about how Barack Obama was president for eight years and didn’t do anything to help Chicago. OK, that’s a criticism of a Democrat, but it’s not exactly a conservative principle to think that the president is supposed to be giving extra help to the city he came from.
I totally agree with West’s statement (which I’m paraphrasing because I don’t recall the exact words) that he is going to think for himself and not allow other people to tell him how to vote or who to support. That’s the most important part of his latest round of messages. But let’s not throw a parade just yet, because next week Kanye may be talking talking up a Democrat who he thinks is cool.
Oh man, @franco , I wasn’t suggesting having Kanye on a Ricochet podcast. I meant the ladies. And by the way – What’s that comment about African Americans and a Democrat minstrel show all about? (JK)
Thank you for speaking my mind. When are we ever going to get past this nonsense. It is so tiresome. Reminded me of Biden about Mr. Obama:
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” Biden said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
I want KW to think independently of the lefty narrative. I would actually prefer that than he become a down-the-line rock-ribbed Republican. Free thinking is more important than the Republican Party.
Lots to ponder here, @franco. Thanks!
You both make a good point, @temptime. The challenge, though, is to meet people where they are, and many blacks relate closely with other blacks and also embrace those who are not black in their lives. My goal was to inspire blacks and whites to say that there are role models in mainstream society they can look up to that are not only successful rap stars but also activists and professors. This is another both/and situation. My hope would be that one day we are color blind, but we’re not there yet.
@franco, I especially appreciated your point here.
I think Drew just drank a case of Red Bull . . .
And … think about applying this to the President as well. He’s not exactly a “conservative” either, which has caused much conniption in the established GOP consultant class. But, like Kanye, we should meet him where he is, continue to educate and inform him on the beauty of the Constitution, of conservatism and its best authors; don’t expect Trump or Kanye to be Thomas Sowell right now … but allow him to educate and inform us on how to articulate such a message to the America people. All of the people without regard to race, creed, color or other leftist tribal classification.
Let’s cancel and close down the democrat minstrel show, with Kanye’s and Candace’s great assistance.
Beautiful, @columbo. I think we could also say that Trump is also teaching us a new way to be president, to get things done, to challenge others to respond to his demands. I mean that. You should write a post on that! What we’re learning about governance from Trump!
Monster Ultra Blue, usually.
Good column on this topic today from Glenn Reynolds in USA Today.
Just like you @drewinwisconsin … now with Dragon Energy!
He’s right, and so is Kanye. I’m appreciating him more through this OP and all your comments!
Her proper response should have been to delete her Twitter account.