Operation: Ebony Shield

Onyx Contributor:  Johnny Silvercloud (@JohnnySilverclo)

Despite the fact that there is a heavy campaign to re-write or even negate history in regards to the portion of the American public the Republican Party answers to, the overwhelming majority of American people understand that the incessant berating and execrating of black people and other peoples deemed nonwhite (i.e., Muslims) from the modern GOP makes it no friend to nonwhite peoples.  With changing demographics, the Republican Party’s persistent clinging onto its Southern Strategy will eventually become a fatal flaw; the concept of “whiteness” is based on racial purity and majority rule.  But ethnicities based on purity fade off in numbers due to many people simply not caring about up keeping the racial stat quo.  So the modern GOP has a problem: how to continue using white racial animus while minorities continue to grow?  The answer seems to be simple — elect black officials to uphold the stat quo.  With the Republican Party actually making black history with their 2014 elected officials, and the Klu Klux Klan accepting black membership, Operation: Ebony Shield seems to be in effect.

What’s Operation: Ebony Shield?

Operation: Ebony Shield is the term to describe the not-exactly-new strategy to place as many black conservatives in the front (like pawns on a chess board) as possible who are willing to do and say the same things that continues to animate the white racial animus against blacks and other nonwhite Americans.  Operation: Ebony Shield is a strategy that attempts to obfuscate racism, assuming that one cannot be declared racist toward a specific minority group if they are a part of that minority group.  In short, white republicans get tired of being accused called out on racism, therefore, it’s superficially better to just place a nonwhite person in place who serves to do the same thing.

The first pioneer in Ebony Shield can be many people, but on my take it would be Allen West.  Allen West, Afro-American, was elected (and NOT elected) for the most part for his vitriol towards President Barack Obama, 44th President, the first Afro-American President of the United States.  Allen West largely did nothing but “criticize” the President.  Allen West’s vitriolic rants ranged from cartoonish in quality to full blown absurd.  Nonetheless, Allen West’s existence allowed many Obama-belligerent whites to live vicariously through him; he served as a shield against any racism accusations.  Being a man of no substance, Allen West lost his seat in congress after two years. Still, he continues to be a beacon of belligerent absurdities to this day.

The Upgrades

A yearn for far more intelligent Ebony Shields lead to black leaders such as Ben Carson and Mia Love.  Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon, became a nearly infallible critic of Obama; his medical background gave credit to his disdain for the Affordable Healthcare Act, and he is far more successful and articulate than Allen West ever could dream of.  Mia Love, a black woman representing Utah, also serves as an upgrade from the previous flawed GOP Ebony Shields such as West and Herman Cain.

Mia Love is an interesting select from the GOP; she’s a black woman who is also a Mormon, which is technically a highly stereotyped religion as is.  When you look at the multiple glass ceilings she breaks, religious, sex and race, she’s a walking paradox.  But what enabled her to wield the hammer to break such glass?

If you look at Mia Love’s website and check her core views, you will find that she doesn’t have anything that serves the purpose of a woman, nor a black person.  Technically, Mrs. Love operates with the template of a rural white protestant male, which is the reason why she is so popular among Republican/conservative circles.  Mia Love does NOT function as a black woman in Congress, representing black women answering problems such as losing their sons to police officers who learn they can kill any black child with near-impunity.  There is no concern for equal pay or woman’s rights.  She does nothing for Human Rights and Civil Rights; Darrien Hunt was murdered by cops in her own city and she does nothing.

So what is Mia Love?  She is a Trojan Horse; a black shell tasked to enter a citadel with a thousand white Anglo-Saxon male protestants inside, all equipped with racism and solidarity ready to defecate on black and nonwhite people everywhere.

The reason why Ebony Shield is so effective, is because using minorities to anathematize and ignore vulnerable peoples of the United States seems to justify the said behavior of demonizing those vulnerable people.  In addition, liberals/Democrats do not have a counterpart to this at all; white democrats exist in white privilege, therefore do not wish to address social stains such as institutional racism because in being able to choose comfort over conflict, ignoring racism is simply a more comfortable lifestyle they can afford to do.  Tim Wise exists, but there’s no Tim-Wise-style politicians present.

Will newly elected folks such as Mia Love and Tim Scott honestly address problems with racism and sociological strife?  Will a wake-up call reach them and force them to engage reality?  Only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure, is the that Operation: Ebony Shield is here to stay.