The McGruder Award for the Most Outrageous Statement by a Black Public Figure by Larry Elder -- Capitalism Magazine

The McGruder Award for the Most Outrageous Statement by a Black Public Figure

by Larry Elder (March 11, 2004)

Aaron McGruder draws the sometimes-funny daily comic strip "The Boondocks." The strip centers around a black family that moved into a predominantly white neighborhood. In a recent strip, two young black characters considered renaming what they call the "Most Embarrassing Black People" award. One character suggested calling the award the "Larry Elder." My, my.

An idea clicked. How about an award for the "Dumbest, Most Vulgar, Most Offensive Things Uttered by Black Public Figures"? Maybe we could call the award the . . . "McGruder."

And the nominees are:

Jermaine Jackson -- for the defense of his brother, Michael, against charges of child molestation: "They're a bunch of racist rednecks out there who don't care about people." He also claimed that "this is nothing but a modern-day lynching."

Aaron McGruder -- at Emory University, for his relentless, almost pathological attacks on President George W. Bush: "It's like, you know, just because you grow up to being functionally illiterate to, you know, being able to string a couple of sentences together doesn't really make you JFK."

Charles Barron, New York City Council member -- expressing his resentment toward whites: "You know, some days I get so frustrated I just want to go up to the closest white person and say, 'You can't understand this, it's a black thing,' and then slap him, just for my mental health."

Aaron McGruder -- on television's "America's Black Forum," for his savage remarks about National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice: "I don't like Condoleezza Rice because of her politics. I don't like Condoleezza Rice because she's part of this oil cabal that's now in the White House. I don't like her because she's a murderer. You know, I'm not bound by the rules of a politician or journalist. So, you know, when I say, 'She's a murderer,' it's because she's a murderer, and that's all that's necessary for me to make those statements."

Deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide for claiming that "white Americans, white military" caused his ouster from power and departure from Haiti: "During the night of the 28th of February 2004, there was a coup d'etat. One could say that it was a geopolitical kidnapping. I can clearly say that it was terrorism disguised as diplomacy."

Aaron McGruder -- at Emory University, for his, uh, "assessment" of Secretary of State Colin Powell: " . . . Let's just say, he's directly killed, not by hand, but he's been the guy who says, 'Those people over there, that whole ethnic group, they gotta go -- kill them.' And they just disappear . . . "

Democratic presidential candidate Rev. Al Sharpton -- on the news media's "dismissive" attitude about his presidential campaign: " . . . When you look at the lack of diversity from the editors and those in power, then you see them as automatically dismissive of anything that is not like them, which is white males. . . . I think we've seen some very blatant racial insensitivity in the coverage of this race so far."

Aaron McGruder on Americans: "Americans are not patriotic. Americans really don't care about freedom; they don't really care about liberty; they don't care about any of that. . . . Because if Americans really cared about any of that stuff, they would have been holding signs that said 'Sore Loser' the year before, when America was really attacked, when somebody took over the whole country who was never elected president."

California State Sen. Diane Watson, on Ward Connerly, an opponent of affirmative action: "He's married a white woman. He wants to be white. He wants a colorless society. He has no ethnic pride. He doesn't want to be black."

Aaron McGruder on Big Oil: "I like conspiracy theories. . . . Everyone in the Bush administration is affiliated with oil and, you know, these are the last of the big oil reserves on the planet, and they needed to get the Taliban out of the way so they could run these pipelines through Afghanistan."

Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla.: during a recent congressional hearing, for declaring the Bush policy toward Haiti "racist" and complaining that the hearing's administration officials were "a bunch of white men." When Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, a Mexican-American, protested being called "white" and "racist," Brown snapped, "You all look alike to me."

Aaron McGruder on politics: "We've got to figure out a way to get the Nazis out of the White House. . . . One thing that you have to respect about the right wing is that they will steal, lie, cheat and murder to maintain power. They do it because that's how the game of international global politics is played. . . . But understand that this is not a nice game. It's ugly. . . . Al Gore won the election, and is not president because he was not willing to do what it took and Bush was."

Envelope, please. And the winner of this year's "McGruder" award -- for calling National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice a "murderer" -- Aaron McGruder!

Congratulations, A-Mc. You deserve it.

Radio talk show host Larry Elder is author of Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies and the Special Interests that Divide America, a call to arms for a truly free society. Elder's daily radio program is nationally syndicated, and now airs in about thirty markets, including Chicago, Portland Phoenix, Tampa, Houston, Dearborn/Detroit, Seattle and several others.

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