I can't say I didn't see it coming.
Recently, I wrote a column applauding my friend, Juan Williams, for stirring the pot with a new book – “Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America – And What We Can Do About It.”
Williams' main argument is that African-Americans need to stop thinking of themselves as victims and start taking responsibility for their own lives, the lives of their children and the many social problems afflicting their community.
I knew there'd be critics who would chime in and insist that I was in a poor position to lecture others about not clinging to victimhood, since I've been known to invoke words such as racism and nativism – concepts that would only seem to create more victims.
I maintain that I've only done so when the shoe fits – as when former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott spoke wistfully of the 1948 presidential bid of Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond, or when people suggest that we ought to profile Muslim-Americans, or when other people complain that Latino immigrants are turning neighborhoods into Third World “shantytowns,” or when House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner shared with me his concern about an immigration reform bill that lets in too many immigrants from Mexico and Latin America.
One reader applauded Williams for rejecting what the author called the “blacks-as-beggars” approach to solving problems. But he seemed surprised that I was in agreement. After all, said my critic, Latinos need to “look in the mirror” and stop begging others for rights and privileges – including, presumably, the right to stay in the country even if one is here illegally.
Funny, as I watched Latinos marching down the streets of major U.S. cities last spring, I didn't see much begging going on. In fact, what I saw was more like a bunch of crusaders protesting for a just cause – an end to efforts in Congress to turn illegal immigrants into felons. Even those who criticized the demonstrators didn't complain that they were playing on people's sympathies as much as getting into people's faces. Those in the streets weren't asking anyone's permission to do anything. In fact, they were downright defiant, right down to waving the Mexican flag.
I would also say to my critics that we Americans shouldn't be afraid to call racism or nativism by their proper names and that doing so doesn't amount to perpetuating a culture of victims. I've never told Latinos – either immigrants or natives – that the fact that others may fear or despise them is an excuse for inaction or self-destructive behavior.
You have to be able to keep people honest by coming down on them when they discriminate. Yet that doesn't mean those who are being discriminated against should throw in the towel and wallow in victimhood. The opposite is true. Once you figure out that some people are intent on assailing you or marginalizing you or turning you into a scapegoat for society's ills, it should motivate you to work even harder to improve your life so that you're better able to defend yourself.
Besides, it's obvious that what really bothers many of the critics is not that Latinos, or African-Americans, or Muslim-
Americans, or any other group see themselves as victims and that this might hinder their progress in the long run. Rather, it's that accusations of racism or nativism still pack a punch and put those who harbor such feelings on the defensive.
And that explains why many people refuse to acknowledge the truth behind them. A lot of people are just plain tired of hearing these accusations – and I don't blame them. But being tired is no excuse for being blind.
Which is the nice thing about Williams' book. His vision is clear. What makes Williams' voice so unique is that he doesn't fall into either of the two camps that dominate so much of the discourse in the African-American community. You have conservative blacks such as Armstrong Williams who never talk about racism, and liberal grievance merchants such as Jesse Jackson who never stop talking it.
Juan Williams isn't afraid to acknowledge the existence of racism. He just doesn't think African-Americans should dwell on that fact and use it as an excuse for all their problems and shortcomings.
That's a valuable nuance – and good common sense.
Navarrette can be reached via e-mail at
ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com.
