Self-Hate
Ward Connerly doesn't like it when people call him "Black". As part of his Quixotic yet still Orwellian campaign to wipe the notion of race from all our record books, he's spearheading Proposition 54 on the California recall ballot. If passed, it would make it illegal for the government to ever ask or tabulate racial statistics, except in certain exceptions such as medical data or law enforcement.

So, just so everyone's clear: The government won't be able to identify or locate communities of color or address the unique political concerns of those communities because they won't have any demographic data, BUT, they'll still be able to do racial profiling.

Great. Thanks a million, Ward.

But this is indicative of the larger notion of a so-called "race-less" or "color-blind" society. And I would simply suggest to you that the more we try to deny the unique cultural richness that each ethnicity brings to the table, the closer we inch towards an enforced conformity that borders on fascism.

On a personal note, Connerly's special brand of self-hatred is particularly galling to yours truly, since he has made a fortune in real estate while registered as a minority business. I wonder if he realizes that he's favored status in the conservative movement is directly tied to the fact that he's a Black man saying the things that he says?

I bet he does. And it makes him hate himself even more. I find myself reminded of the cries of the bi-racial daughter in "Imitation of Life":

"I'M WHITE! WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITE!!!!!!!!!!!"