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"'Black Conservative to Rebut NAACP Leader's Remarks in C-SPAN Interview,' read the press release from Project 21, an organization of conservative African-Americans.
"I had read in Reuters that Kweisi Mfume, president of the NAACP, had called groups like Project 21 'make-believe black organizations,' and a 'collection of black hustlers' who have adopted a conservative agenda in return for 'a few bucks a head.'
"So I tuned into C-SPAN with interest to hear what a leading voice in the black conservative movement had to say. But then a funny thing happened: the African-American spokesperson for Project 21 caught a flat on the way to the studio, and the group's director had to fill in. And he was white....
"It was a remarkable moment. A flat tire had led to a nationally televised peek into what lies behind a murky network of interconnected black conservative organizations that seek ostensibly to bring more African-Americans into the conservative movement. But they're not just reaching out to the community. They also speak out publicly for conservative positions that might evoke charges of racism if advocated by whites. And while that's not to say that there aren't some blacks who embrace conservative values, the groups that claim to represent them are heavily financed by business interests and often run by white Republicans....
"Project 21 is a subsidiary of the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), which, according to the liberal watchdog Mediatransparency.org, was formed in the 1980s to support Reagan's military interventions in Central America. NCPPR's leadership – president, vice president, executive director – are all white. Amy Ridenour, former Deputy Director of the College Republican National Committee and the organization's president, also sits on the board of Black America's PAC, an organization that claims to be nonpartisan but whose IRS filings state that its mission is to elect Republicans....
"In the 1990s, NCPPR got into the business of denying that climate change warnings were based on sound science. If the connection between black conservative outreach work and environmental skepticism doesn't seem clear, that's because it's not. But it's logical considering that ExxonMobil donated $30,000 to NCPPR for 'educational activities' and $15,000 for general support in 2002, and last year they hiked their operating support to $25,000 and kicked in another $30,000 for NCPPR's 'EnviroTruth' website, according to company financial records.
"Project 21 also received funding from R.J. Reynolds and 'has lobbied in support of tobacco industry interests, opposing FDA regulation of the industry, excise taxes and other government policies to reduce tobacco use,' according to the Center for Media and Democracy....
"[O]ne of the most important ideological battle grounds for the black conservative movement is on campus, where many of the faculty in the social sciences and humanities believe the silly notion that structural racism still exists in America, and aren't afraid to say so.
So in 1998, the Young America's Foundation formed the Alternative Black Speakers Program 'in response to the overwhelmingly leftist bent of Black History Month on campuses,' according to a press release. The program sends conservative black speakers to college campuses across the country, 'giving students an alternative to the often radical and irresponsible message of black lecturers appearing on campuses as part of official university programs.' One of YAF's top executives is Floyd Brown, the infamous dirty trickster responsible for creating the 1988 anti-Dukakis ads featuring Willie Horton's menacing mug shot.
"Perhaps the most visible black conservative in the campus wars is Ward Connerly, president of the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI). Connerly was a protege of former California Governor Pete Wilson, who appointed him to the University of California's Board of Regents. Connerly drafted Wilson's anti-affirmative action initiative Prop 209, and is now attempting to bring a similar ballot measure to Michigan.
"When asked what he thought about Trent Lott's comments about segregation in 2002, Connerly told CNN: 'Supporting segregation need not be racist. One can believe in segregation and believe in equality of the races.'
"According to the civil rights group By Any Means Necessary (disclosure: I am a member of BAMN), Connerly reportedly makes $400,000 dollars per year as the president of ACRI.
"And that's what seems to unite these seemingly disparate groups – money. Every black conservative group I've mentioned – without exception – receives a significant portion of their funding (in some cases all of their funding) from at least three of four ultra-conservative foundations....
"The four are the usual suspects of the Right's political ATM: Richard Scaife's family foundations, Adolph Coors' Castle Rock Foundation, The John M. Olin Foundation, and the Linde and Harry Bradley Foundation. What's striking about these groups' underwriting of 'minority organizations' is that some of them have at times displayed what many would consider a frankly racist agenda....
"According to People For The American Way (PFAW), William Coors gave a speech In 1984 in which he reportedly told a largely African American audience that 'one of the best things they [slave traders] did for you is to drag your ancestors over here in chains.' Later in the speech, he asserted that weakness in the Zimbabwe economy was due to black Africans' 'lack of intellectual capacity....'"
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