Juliette Ochieng on Associations

The conservative Republican blogger, on complaints by some white conservatives over whether The Conservative Brotherhood - an ad-hoc group of black American conservative, libertarian, and moderate-conservative bloggers, of which Ms. Ochieng and Booker Rising are members and which recently expanded - is racist exclusion: “Some people get nervous when too many blacks gather in one place….“Do black Americans get to acknowledge that the culture in which they have often been nurtured and in which they may find themselves in at the moment might be different from that of their countrymen in some respects? Or have we become so politically correct — even on the right side of the political spectrum — that it’s not said in polite company? Perhaps the reaction to the Conservative Brotherhood has a far simpler explanation; in the minds of some, anything that is all-black brings unconscious negative connotations. Hence the ‘cutting yourselves off’ assumption and the totally ridiculous assertion that we were equating race with writing ability. No ethnically Hawaiian or Dutch-American association would ever have to contend with such negative stereotypes.” She concludes: “Consider this: the fact that the CB is conservative should be a clue that many of the other preconceived notions that people have about an all-black group might need to be thrown out of the window also.”

Also check out commentary by Cobb (who founded TCB), Ramblings Journal, Uncle Sam’s Cabin, and Molotov’s blunt comments to white conservatives about the issue. As I said in Wizbang’s comments section, Booker Rising doesn’t exist to please white folks but to reach black folks, and put blackness in conservatism and centrism. The Conservative Brotherhood has helped us in achieving our goal. So we ain’t gonna apologize for our blog’s focus, or for our association with a group of black bloggers. If white folks don’t like it, then tough!