Dr. Ben Carson is learning the perils of rising in the polls in a presidential election. This week, the National Enquirer produced an article detailing what it says is a pattern of malpractice by Carson, including leaving a sponge in the head of a patient. Some of the harshest commentary however have come from liberal African Americans. Much like some of the criticism faced by Clarence Thomas, Carson has been attacked as being a type of traitor to the black community despite the fact that he is a hugely successful doctor and mentor for many. University of Pennsylvania Professor Anthea Butler however took that criticism to a new low in calling Carson a “coon.” While such a racial slur would normally be followed by demands for terminations from a white professor, the response to the slur has been at best muted.
The Butler incident raises again the question of a double standard in controversies at the University of California and Boston University, where there have been criticism of a double standard, even in the face of criminal conduct. Just yesterday we discussed a case at the University of London involving Bahar Mustafa.
Butler said that Ben Carson should win the “coon of the year” after the 2016 hopeful supported allowing Confederate flags at NASCAR events. Carson had stated a principled position in favor of free speech despite his own obvious dislike for the imagery. Many free rights advocates, including myself, have argued for the right to display such symbols. Carson said “Swastikas are a symbol of hate for some people too … and yet they still exist in our museums and places like that . . . If it’s a majority of people in that area who want it to fly, I certainly wouldn’t take it down.”
There are strong arguments for protecting this right, but Professor Butler by writing “If only there was a ‘coon of the year’ award …”
The response from the head of her department indicates that this is not going to be viewed as an issue for her colleagues or the school. Professor Justin McDaniel told the Washington Examiner that “She is a valued colleague and faculty member, but I have no comment on the tweet, because I have not seen it nor know the context of the comment.” Fair enough. However, there is a legitimate question of how the school would have responded to a white professor calling a leading African-American a “coon” or other slur. Would that public comment be treated as a private affair? Indeed, racially insensitive comments on social commentary by a Duke University professor led to calls for his termination.
McDaniel is not the only one defending Butler. Over at Mediaite, they are insisting that Butler never actually referred to Carson as a “coon.” While I have added “reportedly” to the title, the defense seems to go nowhere beyond suggesting that people are racists if they interpret a tweet on Carson as receiving an award of “Coon of the Year” as referring to Carson as “Coon of the Year.”
“Now, if you want to interpret Professor Butler’s tweet that way, you’re welcome to do so, but to state that interpretation as fact is just plain wrong. In fact, maybe you’re the racist for reading that tweet and assuming that she meant Ben Carson is a “coon.” There’s another much more relevant interpretation to be made.”
However, Tommy Christopher never gets around to actually explaining the misinterpretations by presumptive racists. It is simply noted that the tweet was in response to Ben Carson’s remarks on NASCAR and the Confederate flag — as has been widely reported. Christopher then goes into an aside on an actual Coon of the Year competition in Maine. Others have suggested that Butler was referring to how “whites” would refer to him. I fail to see how that is a defense. She would still be saying that Carson qualifies as a “coon”, which was obviously slur created for whites for blacks. It is saying that he meets that definition. You end up in the same place. It is like saying that a black leader is an Uncle Tom or “house n****r” — the point is that he qualifies as the type of subservient slave-like character referenced by racist whites. For those who have long been critical of the increasing list of “microaggressions” being sanctioned on campuses, this would seem a macroaggression under the prevailing logic.
This is not the first controversy for Butler who is also a regular on MSNBC as a commentator. In 2013, she tweeted in commentary on the Zimmerman case that
God ain’t good all of the time. In fact, sometimes, God is not for us. As a black woman in a nation that has taken too many pains to remind me that I am not a white man, and am not capable of taking care of my reproductive rights, or my voting rights, I know that this American god ain’t my god. As a matter of fact, I think he’s a white racist god with a problem. More importantly, he is carrying a gun and stalking young black men.
Once again, I have long maintained that academics, including Professor Butler, deserve free speech and academic protections for expressing controversial thoughts. The problem is not that there is a clearly undefined and unevenly applied standard for academics with regard to racially sensitive or controversial comments.
As for Carson, I find the backlash against successful African-Americans like him or Clarence Thomas to be astonishing. One can easily disagree with Thomas’ opinions, but he has one of the most genuine and moving life stories of anyone in Washington. If he were liberal, his rise from abject poverty to the highest court would be celebrated as the triumph of true American values. The same can be said about Carson who has achieved a remarkable amount in his lifetime. African Americans should be celebrated regardless of their political views by the black community and society at large. The harsh and intolerant response to conservative blacks on campuses in not just unfair it is distinctly anti-intellectual. Yet, this intolerance is becoming a badge of pride for some who believe that they have license to insult and degrade those who dare hold views different from their own. Carson’s comment about the confederate flag shows considerable principle in overcoming the powerfully negative imagery for his community. It is Professor Butler who reduced this substantive debate to the level of racial slurs and personal insults.
Martin Luther King said “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Carson stood for free speech rights. It is not clear what Professor Butler stands for in casting racial slurs in response.
Because Obama isn’t?
https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/651924724960874497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Knute
‘Fixing the ghetto’ would be swell, but you do know that there are numerous affluent and middle class kids who suffer abuse, right?
Knute
The abuse and neglect of our children is shameful and every effort should be made to protect those victims I’d start with universal sex education, giving sexually active girls and women access to contraception, parenting classes and providing excellent day care.
Unfortunately, about 50% of Americans will oppose such policies. I’m not sure what they will offer instead. Perhaps a few readers here will offer some suggestions.
Sorry but… (means I’m not really sorry)
Her twitter pic… Is she pulling a reverse Dolezal?
I am curious, when she is not calling our peaceful neighbors demeaning, despicable names, has *Professor Anthea Butler ever addressed America’s expanding and shameful *National Epidemic of Child Abuse and Neglect,* aka *Poverty*, that for decades has deprived untold numbers of depressed children from experiencing and enjoying a safe, fairly happy American kid childhood.
Is Professor Anthea Butler aware that child victims of America’s expanding and shameful *National Epidemic of Child Abuse and Neglect,* aka *Poverty*, often develop into angry, frustrated, unpredictable, emotionally depressed teens and adults lacking empathy and compassion for their peaceful neighbors, because their lives suck so why shouldn’t their neighbor’s lives suck too!
Does Professor Anthea Butler recognize there is a substantial population of young immature teen girls and women creating life before acquiring the skills, PATIENCE and means to properly raise, nurture and supervise a developing young child who matures into a fairly happy teen and adult enjoying safe streets to play on or travel.
Is Professor Anthea Butler one of many highly educated Americans who hold blameless young immature teen moms for failing and emotionally harming their children…while the police, criminal justice and correctional systems are charged with protecting peaceful people from depressed, angry, frustrated, unpredictable teens and adults who were victims of EARLY childhood abuse and/or neglect at the hands of immature, impatient teen girls, young women and/or irresponsible men?
What is Professor Anthea Butler opinion of the May 2015 NYTimes article *Rise in Suicide by Black Children Surprises Researchers*
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/health/suicide-rate-for-black-children-surged-in-2-decades-study-says.html
Has Professor Anthea Butler ever asked herself, “Who is responsible for physically and/or emotionally traumatizing children to the point young kids believe their lives are not worth living?”
Speaking At The Eulogy For The Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney, President Barack Obama asked:
*”Perhaps it causes us to examine what we’re doing to cause some of our children to hate?”* (Applause.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T_GwYI7MnQ
I am still waiting for Mr. Obama to provide the American people with an answer to his question.
Does Professor Anthea Butler share Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke’s sound advice offered to all Americans, *”Fix the ghetto!”*?
#TakePrideInParenting
#EndChildAbuseNeglect
#ProtectKidsFromIrresponsibleCaregivers
Mike,
He’s a gay hugging sharia loving secret Muslim from Kenya… dont’cha know?
Now here is an interesting sentence from Prof. Turley’s post:
‘African Americans should be celebrated regardless of their political views by the black community and society at large”.
Hmmm. I wonder if that includes President Obama – you know – the man who is known as a lying, thieving, stealing, cult leader around here?
It’s a shameful, disgusting comment.
That said, Dr. Carson is not a good candidate for president. He hasn’t much (any?) understanding of the financial operation of the government and struggled to present a coherent position regarding the raising of the debt limit.
More alarming is his high regard for a conspiracy nut job, Cleon Skousen as the following notes:
“But he has provided one important clue as to his fundamental political worldview, by repeatedly endorsing a far-right conspiracy theorist named W. Cleon Skousen, who was characterized in 2007 by the conservative National Review as an “all-around nutjob.” Skousen came to prominence in the 1950s as a virulent anti-Communist crusader; he later claimed that a global cabal of bankers controlled the world from behind the scenes, and he once wrote a book that referred to the “blessings of slavery.”
Skousen also believed::
“Skousen listed dozens of the goals of the commies and their useful idiots, including pushing free trade, promoting coexistence with the Soviet bloc, capturing “one or both of the political parties in the United States,” winning control of schools (“use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda”), and infiltrating the press (“get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, and policy making positions”). He said they wanted to control “key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures,” weaken American culture by degrading artistic expression (and substituting “good sculpture from parks and building” with “shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms”), and present homosexuality as “normal, natural, and healthy.” What’s more, he claimed, they wanted to discredit the Bible, eliminate prayer in schools, demean the American Founding Fathers as “selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the ‘common man,'” and support “any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture—education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.” He said they also wanted to encourage divorce and promiscuity, incite “special-interest groups” to “rise up…to solve economic, political or social problems,” and seize control of unions and big business”.
And here is more:
According to Skousen, The Manchurian Candidate was a documentary—he earnestly believed Communists sought to create ‘a regimented breed of Pavlovian men whose minds could be triggered into immediate action by signals from their masters.'”
Carson’s repeated and full-throated endorsements of Skousen—which tend to be coupled with dire warnings about the covert scheming of Marxists and Saul Alinsky—suggest that Carson shares Skousen’s belief that the civil rights movement, acceptance of homosexuality, the rise of abstract art and modernism, and the advent of Medicare, Social Security, and other safety-net programs have all been part of a clandestine plot waged by Communists or other dark forces to destroy the United States. As Carson points out, this nefarious plotting is still in the works today.
And finally there is this:
“Carson’s faith in Skousen is even more unsettling because Skousen was far more than a rabid anti-commie crusader and Red-baiter. He was a complete crank. He maintained that the Founding Fathers were direct descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel and contended that a global cabal of bankers controlled the world.
In a 1962 book, Skousen decried homosexuality and insisted, “Every boy should know that masturbation may be the first step to homosexuality.”
I know that large chunks of information are not popular here, but you may find it valuable to know who Dr. Carson thinks is a swell guy and whose ideas he enthusiastically shares.
Here is the link
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/09/ben-carson-conspiracy-theory-cleon-skousen
You would think that with the specter of slavery, that the African American community would celebrate those who speak their mind and have diverse opinions.
And yet, they attack African Americans with racist comments and intense peer pressure to “toe the line”. Dissent is not tolerated. Conservative views are not tolerated.
I just don’t understand this mindset. Why is racism OK? Why is it OK for the African American community to punish their own members if they are not Democrats? Conservative African Americans often hide their beliefs from other African Americans out of fear of backlash.
That is so ironic and tragic. I do not think that this was the outcome Dr Martin Luther King, Jr sacrificed his life for.
What landed on top of her head and died? That’s the only puzzling aspect of this tale. We have all heard rap music– performed mostly by African American entertainers–peppered with frequent references to the N-word, along with the use of the term b%©¢h when alluding to women. No one raises an eyebrow. Whites don’t get that pass. This situation is no different. This professor’s race allows her great latitude–latitude not afforded to the rest of civilized society. Seriously, you have to question the sanity of an individual who walks around sporting a rat’s nest as a hairdo.
Ben Carson is a mindless brain surgeon…
… Leave his race out of it.
People who use another person’s race as the point of their contention or as a factor into their opinion about that person are commonly called racists…
Justice, You don’t quite get it. If she were a conservative black woman and said that about a liberal black man, she would be gone in a NY minute. Same w/ feminism, it’s not about women, it’s about the liberal cause. PC liberalism trumps EVERYTHING.
Lisa, JT is a true libertarian and as intellectually honest as you’ll find. The Global Warming obsession is an exception. But hell, we are all afforded a few indulgences.
Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. The rules are not logical, fair, or even the codified. They can change in a minute and by fiat.
Nick,
I agree with you. Professor Turley may be a Liberal and real leftist on some issues but on most, he’s pretty even and pro Constitution. That’s why I follow him, otherwise, I’d chalk him up to being another Liberal talking head and not pay any attention to his opinions. But most Liberals take opposition to the nth degree and either hate your guts or just gut you. Lol
Maybe someone should make up a University of Pennsylvania Professor Anthea Butler “Coon” of the year award and give it to Dr. Carson. Take her stupid but protected comments to the next level.
I would be voteing for Dr. Carson if the election were tomorrow.
Anthea Butler should get Beaver of the year award. Hairy black nappy headed big mouth.
And if anyone criticizes me for this comment and calls me racist, so be it, I’m practicing the Anthea Butler rules of engagement in the social injustice for all one sided conversation. This is what she has taught me.
Great intellectually honest post, JT. Good chance you will be vilified for speaking the truth.
She’s a liberal, black, woman. She has carte blanche to utter any vile comments w/ impunity. Chrissake, you all know that, don’t you? It’s rule #1 in the PC manual.
If she was white she would be gone!