SARAH PALIN'S INSULTING BLACK HISTORY "LESSON"

(Originally published Dec. 2, 2010 in The Pasadena Journal)

African-Americans do not need Sarah Palin to lecture us about black history. In her new book, America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, Palin -- who soared to prominence by demonizing President Obama, mischaracterizing civil rights leaders and glorifying small-town white America -- expresses admiration for two of our most revered African-American heroes: civil rights champion Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Booker T. Washington, the former slave who was the preeminent voice for black education in the 19^th and early 20^th century. But Palin’s respect for these icons reflects an offensive misrepresentation of the black freedom struggle that is painfully common among white conservatives.

Palin praises Washington for working menial jobs and for developing Tuskegee Institute as if he was some kind of anomaly; as if hard work, self-help and making a way out of no way was not the mainstream avocation of black folks. Palin pontificates: “Washington had every incentive to…give the finger to The Man. Instead, he worked to pass on to others in need the virtues that had given him success… He didn’t take the easy path; he took the hard path. He earned his success and his self-esteem.”

The patronizing ignorance of those words is staggering. There was no “easy path” for Booker T. Washington to choose in the post-slavery era (just as there has been no easy path for countless African-Americans since that time). And there was nothing unique about Washington’s diligence and commitment to empowering those who came after him. Black folk before, during and after Booker T’s time have always been defined by diligence, self-reliance and a commitment to excellence. Our demands for social justice, equal opportunity and political remedies to institutionalized racism and economic under-development have always been reinforced by hard work. Booker T. Washington earned his success and self-esteem? Absolutely! But so have generations of Black Americans who Sarah Palin apparently cares nothing about.

Palin is similarly clueless when she misapplies Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in a clumsy attempt to discredit President Barack Obama. In trashing Mr. Obama’s call for “fundamental transformation” in our society, Palin writes: “Dr. King called not for a rejection of America's founding principles, but for America to ‘rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.’”

See, this is what happens when you try to put words into folk’s mouths, while ignoring the words that have actually been spoken. President Obama has never called for “a rejection of America’s founding principles.” When he spoke of the need for a “fundamental transformation” in our country, Mr. Obama was talking about the need for greater social and economic fairness that would expand the opportunities for average, work-a-day Americans to improve their lives (through access to education, jobs, health care, home ownership, etc.) This is the same message Dr. King delivered throughout his life. Indeed, the demand for economic justice was a basic component of the Civil Rights struggle. The March on Washington was officially billed as a rally for “Jobs and Freedom” and, during “I Have A Dream,” Dr. King decried that a century after emancipation “…the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”

I doubt seriously that Sarah Palin has never listened to or read “Where Do We Go From Here,” the speech in which Dr. King questioned the ruthlessness of capitalism and called for “restructuring the whole of American society.” King concludes that address with this bold pronouncement:

“…communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis…that combines the truth of both. Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.”

Sarah Palin would like to pretend that Dr. King never said things like that. But he did. All the time. And his words are just as true today as they were four decades ago. Something else Dr. King used to say seems fitting here: “No lie can live forever.”

Attempts by Sarah Palin and other conservatives to revise history by distorting the words and deeds of black heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Booker T. Washington are profoundly insulting. They’re also easily debunked which makes them laughable.

Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.

Watch Cameron Turner’s weekly television appearances on "The Filter with Fred Roggin" at www.NBCLA.com. See video commentaries at www.youtube.com/TurnersTwoCents. Email Cameron at turnerstwocents@yahoo.com.