My friend A.D. Powell has a couple of interesting postings at A Mixed Blog on the squabble between Ralph Nader and members of the Congressional Black Caucus (here and here). An excerpt from from Rep. Melvin Watt’s comments to Nader (via Nader/Camejo 2004):
You’re just another arrogant white man — telling us what we can do* — it’s all about your ego – another f * * * ing arrogant white man.
These comments were in response to Nader refusing to drop his presidential campaign after being ordered to do so by the CBC. How exactly does Nader exercising his right to run for public office translate to him “telling us what we can do?” Further, why is his so-called “race” an issue? It isn’t, unless of course, Rep. Watt is revealing a little of his own “racism” in his comments.
As much as I disagree with much of Nader’s politics, he seems like a true believer in his causes, and after years of media coverage – probably not easily provoked into angry screaming matches. Of course, this unqualified assessment is based on my solitary impression of the man when we both served on a discussion panel in March 2003 regarding faulty biological and chemical weapons protection gear in the DoD supply chain.
Long story short, my impression of Nader was that of a man dedicated to his beliefs (however misguided some of them may be), willing to work with individuals of differing ideologies and causes when it benefited the parties involved. Sure, he can be impassioned, uncompromising, mayhaps a bit arrogant and strident in his beliefs, but screaming and hollering is something entirely different.
I thoroughly denounce his economic redistributionist politics, but given my observations of the man in action, I can’t see him getting into a shouting match with Members of Congress, especially the hypersensitive CBC members, without being thoroughly provoked. I find Nader’s story credible and the behavior of the Congressional Black Caucus repugnant. But then, I’ve personally witnessed members of the CBC denounce the right of self-identification for “multiracial” individuals. I’ve further witnessed members of the CBC accuse biracial individuals of “black” and “white” parentage of “running from their blackness” by not adhering to the one-drop rule. Their treatment of Nader’s unwillingness to subjugate his rights is par for the course.
Other bloggers on this mess: Amy Ridenour (here), Vonster (here); Nathan Newman (here), Politics in the Zeros (here).