Should we regard guys like Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain and now Ben Carson as vindication for the hard won victories of the civil rights struggle?

Well, now that Ben Carson got caught lying about Westpoint- he’s in like Flynn as a Republican. Grain Storage Pyramids in Giza? Shoot me. Seven-Day-Adventist? Can he count that high?
Clarence Thomas, or his power-wielding Wife? ( sure backed off of covering or questioning her antics) That man needs a total plumbing overall- so he won’t ever forget what not to try to put where, with women, ever again. Ms. Hill may be in charge of any anesthesia. Lackluster judge at top form.
Herman Cain. I’m very remorseful for eating his pizza once. ( I was young. I like pizza )
He had trouble with his zipper also. His last shove away from the Republican table- does this mean more Tea- or did the 999 plan scare the white brethren too much?
Are they all sneaky? Check!
Are they and have they broken the ‘woman on the side’ rule? Republicans don’t mind when there’s a Democrat to point at. Sooo Check!
While the next campaign slogan for Ben be: ‘He can be our Next President And National Health Expert. He IS a doctor, you know!’
Sigh. Check….

they are all just token black guys for conservatives.
just like all the women on fox news are there only for their tits.

@stanleybmanly , you are largely correct. For a long time, black people had to be even better than white in order to be taken seriously. It wasn’t enough to be just as good as a white person – in business, in sports, in life—you actually had to better than a white person to be considered equal.

The buffoons (Cain, Carson, Thomas) you asked about are, in fact, testimony to the success of blacks in America, where they are so equal that they don’t need to be better. This is, in an ass-backwards sort of way, the triumph of American black politicians.

You should do some research on the great American politician Roman Hruska – a member of Congress from Nebraska, who, in a 1970 speech in favor of a total jerk for the Supreme Court, noted that:

“Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they, and a little chance? We can’t have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos.”

link

@ragingloli all the women on fox news are there only for their tits.

That is massively unfair. They are also there for their hair.

I was reading last night that there were many Black People involved in the very birth of our country. It is said there were Seven Black Presidents over the history of the United States including the very first President under the articles of Confederation prior to the ratification of the Contitution.

It just goes to show our shared humanity.

From this side of the border, it appears that your country is still very much engaged in a civil rights struggle.

Vindication means a clearing of record or reputation when someone has been suspected or accused of something (vindicate). I don’t think that’s what you meant here, @stanleybmanly, because those hard-won victories were not in need of justification or exoneration, but I’m not sure what you did mean.

Justification is exactly what I meant. What I’m asking is: Are these 3 men examples of why the civil rights struggle was necessary and beneficial?

@dappled_leaves …still very much engaged in a civil rights struggle.

Sadly, too true. There have been many advances, but to paraphrase the old jingle, we’ve got a long way to go!

No. We should regard them as American on their own merits. The same as all people. That is all.

@stanleybmanly – you probably don’t want this answer, but I would say YES, these guys are the culmination of the black struggle in America.

Pre civil rights, a black person had to be truly exceptional – a real genius, or a superb musician, or a great ball player—if you were black, you had to be the very best in order to be taken seriously, and even then it was quite a struggle. It didn’t happen everywhere or to everyone.

Fast forward 50 years. Blacks have become so much a part of the political mainstream than mediocre, even repulsive black men can reach positions of power and influence. Clarence Thomas, Herman Cain, and Ben Carson would have been forgotten failures had it not been for the success of black civil rights movements in the last two generations. The fact that we talk about them means, in a twisted way, that african americans are equal to whites – because even the mediocre are politicians.

I would add that Asian Americans have not reach equality, on this scale. You still have to be the ‘very best’ Asian to be successful. They have not reached the level where a mediocre Asian can be powerful.