And an insult to People of Color
I keep a mental running list of Black people who denigrate and degrade other Black people to gain favor with Whites, especially the elite, ruling class kind. I call them BINOs (Blacks in Name Only):
- Kanye West
- Paris Dennard
- Candace Owens
- Clarence Thomas
- Herman Cain
- Ben Carson
- Herschel Walker
- Harris Faulkner
To name just a few. The latest edition to my list is none other than Vivek Ramaswamy. Technically, he’s not Black, but it’s the same principle.
For poor White people in America, identifying as poor means to be grouped with indigent people of other color persuasions, including black, brown, yellow, green, purple, you name it. But identifying as White comes with certain baked-in advantages because all White people benefit from white privilege, and no matter how wretched a White person’s life may be, they can take comfort in the fact that at least they’re not on the lowest rung of the social ladder. In America, identifying as White is preferable to identifying as poor.
The same is true for Vivek Ramaswamy. To him, identifying as a Harvard- and Yale-educated White boy entrepreneur politician is preferable to identifying as what he also is: a first-generation Hindu Indian American with black skin.
Ramaswamy belongs to a demographic that is often targeted by Republican policies, the same ultra-conservative, right-wing policies and ideology he espouses.
I’ve got news for you, Vivek. No matter how much you disclaim this country’s white supremacist, racist past and present, and no matter how much you deny your skin color, to many of those whose ranks you so desperately want to gain favor with and join, you’re still — like the rest of us Black people — just another Nigger.
And that makes you comparing US Congressional Representative Ayanna Pressley and activist and author Ibram X. Kendi to grand wizards of the KKKeven more reprehensible.