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Friendship, Loyalty, And ?Civil Rights?

Does ?civil rights? require the subordination of friendship and personal loyalty to racial solidarity? According Detroit Congressman John Conyers, apparently so, since racial solidarity is a way of ?avoiding social embarrassment.?

Explaining his endorsement of Obama instead of his ?dear old friends,? the Clintons, Conyers told an interviewer:

?To me, there?s a historical consideration in this as well,? Conyers says. ?How in the world could I explain to people I fought for civil rights and equality, then we come to the point where an African American of unquestioned capability has a chance to become president and I said, ?No, I have dear old friends I?ve always supported, who I?ve always liked.? What do you tell your kids??

How about you tell them this: friendship with and loyalty to individual people is more important than racial solidarity. If your kids are stubborn, or this should for any reason prove insufficient, you might add that the civil rights and equality you fought for involved at their core the right of every individual person to be treated without regard to race.

Of course, in Conyers? case and the cases of too many other ?civil rights? activists, that wouldn?t be true.

Full post as published by Discriminations on February 14, 2008 (boomark / email).