Cory Booker’s presidential highlight (op-ed)
There’s an old saying: If you let a person talk enough, they’ll reveal themselves.
Recently, in a private meeting about immigration President Trump used a disparaging term to describe African countries and Haiti. For many, Trump’s words revealed the white supremacist world view they were convinced Trump held during the Republican primary. The anti-Trump forces acted like vulgarity in a private meeting was grounds for impeachment. (Or at least a Presidential censure.) And the press revealed their contempt for the President. But it didn’t stop there, Democratic presidential hopefuls joined the frenzy.
For example, homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen appeared before a senate committee to discuss “boarder wall security” but it turned into an inquest about the immigration meeting she attended and the vulgar remark of President Trump. Nielsen testified she couldn’t recall anything specific, but the “talk” was rough.
Insulted by Nielsen’s amnesia, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) stated the matter was personal to him because he’s a senator -- today -- because, “when good white people in this country heard bigotry and hatred they stood up.” Then Booker spoke about American values. Booker rattled off hate crime statistics and how many Americans were killed by white supremacist since 9/11. Booker then glared at Nielsen and said, “I don’t know if 73 percent of your time is spent concerned about white supremacist hate groups. I don’t know if 73 percent of your time is spent concerned about people in fear.”
Then Booker singled out Sikh Americans and Muslim Americans, who, according to him, live in fear. But Booker didn’t stop there. He also singled out black Americans, meaning in 2018 black Americans still live in fear of white supremacy. Booker told Nielsen, “I receive enough death threats to know the reality.”
But the reality is, in that flash statement Booker portrayed black America as a cowardly collective for a presidential highlight, and he has a history of misrepresentation.
When Booker ran for Mayor of Newark, New Jersey he told a story about a drug dealer named T-Bone at every campaign stop. T-Bone threatened his life when they first met, then they became friends, eventually T-Bone came to him for advice, then T-Bone confided in him when he had warrants for his arrest, T-Bone cried on his shoulder, and T-Bone’s background was similar to a lot of the black men that Booker knew. Booker’s intimate story generated sympathy and support for a campaign aimed at deterring others from going down T-Bone’s path, but it also generated a media search for T-Bone, the drug dealer who befriended Booker, the Stanford and Yale graduate.
T-Bone couldn’t be found.
A Newark city councilman and Booker supporter said the T-Bone story was a “fixture” of Booker’s unsuccessful 2002 mayoral bid. A Rutgers University professor and mentor to Booker said T-Bone was a “composite” of several people he’d met while living in Newark. The professor said he disapproved of Booker inventing T-Bone because it was offensive and pandered to a stereotype of inner city black men. A political analyst stated Booker’s T-Bone story was created to counter the criticism that he was an outsider who had a privileged upbringing in a wealthy suburb. So Booker felt he had to create a stereotypical story to be accepted because his “black privilege” made him unacceptable in the world view of black politics.
In an interview Booker said T-Bone was a real person and an “archetype”, a metaphor for the failure of democracy, parenting and life in the inner city.
If you let a person talk enough, they’ll reveal themselves, especially when they’re grandstanding for presidential highlights.
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 1/24/18
Recently, in a private meeting about immigration President Trump used a disparaging term to describe African countries and Haiti. For many, Trump’s words revealed the white supremacist world view they were convinced Trump held during the Republican primary. The anti-Trump forces acted like vulgarity in a private meeting was grounds for impeachment. (Or at least a Presidential censure.) And the press revealed their contempt for the President. But it didn’t stop there, Democratic presidential hopefuls joined the frenzy.
For example, homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen appeared before a senate committee to discuss “boarder wall security” but it turned into an inquest about the immigration meeting she attended and the vulgar remark of President Trump. Nielsen testified she couldn’t recall anything specific, but the “talk” was rough.
Insulted by Nielsen’s amnesia, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) stated the matter was personal to him because he’s a senator -- today -- because, “when good white people in this country heard bigotry and hatred they stood up.” Then Booker spoke about American values. Booker rattled off hate crime statistics and how many Americans were killed by white supremacist since 9/11. Booker then glared at Nielsen and said, “I don’t know if 73 percent of your time is spent concerned about white supremacist hate groups. I don’t know if 73 percent of your time is spent concerned about people in fear.”
Then Booker singled out Sikh Americans and Muslim Americans, who, according to him, live in fear. But Booker didn’t stop there. He also singled out black Americans, meaning in 2018 black Americans still live in fear of white supremacy. Booker told Nielsen, “I receive enough death threats to know the reality.”
But the reality is, in that flash statement Booker portrayed black America as a cowardly collective for a presidential highlight, and he has a history of misrepresentation.
When Booker ran for Mayor of Newark, New Jersey he told a story about a drug dealer named T-Bone at every campaign stop. T-Bone threatened his life when they first met, then they became friends, eventually T-Bone came to him for advice, then T-Bone confided in him when he had warrants for his arrest, T-Bone cried on his shoulder, and T-Bone’s background was similar to a lot of the black men that Booker knew. Booker’s intimate story generated sympathy and support for a campaign aimed at deterring others from going down T-Bone’s path, but it also generated a media search for T-Bone, the drug dealer who befriended Booker, the Stanford and Yale graduate.
T-Bone couldn’t be found.
A Newark city councilman and Booker supporter said the T-Bone story was a “fixture” of Booker’s unsuccessful 2002 mayoral bid. A Rutgers University professor and mentor to Booker said T-Bone was a “composite” of several people he’d met while living in Newark. The professor said he disapproved of Booker inventing T-Bone because it was offensive and pandered to a stereotype of inner city black men. A political analyst stated Booker’s T-Bone story was created to counter the criticism that he was an outsider who had a privileged upbringing in a wealthy suburb. So Booker felt he had to create a stereotypical story to be accepted because his “black privilege” made him unacceptable in the world view of black politics.
In an interview Booker said T-Bone was a real person and an “archetype”, a metaphor for the failure of democracy, parenting and life in the inner city.
If you let a person talk enough, they’ll reveal themselves, especially when they’re grandstanding for presidential highlights.
First published in the New Pittsburgh Courier 1/24/18
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