U.S. Rep Trey Radel (R-FL), who was arrested for cocaine possession and is now seeking to apologize publicly for his addictions, had embraced the typical neo-con positions, such as seeking mandatory drug testing for those on public assistance. He also has described himself as a Hip Hop Conservative, which reminded me of Conor P. Williams in a 2012 article who described precisely what type of conservative Radel really is: The Cognitive Dissonants are defined by their hypocrisy. They dismiss serious concerns about racial marginalization and urban poverty while bumping the rawest hip-hop anthems born of that very exclusion. When I was young, these conservatives spent their nights with Tupac’s “I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto”—only to spend their days in class attributing African-American poverty to laziness. Today, they’re often monogamy’s staunchest defenders all week long—and enthusiastically promiscuous all weekend. These conservatives are terribly frustrating. They enjoy living the cool, uninhibited life, but their public convictions threaten to vilify others for doing the same—or to exclude others altogether. They are privilege and entitlement and personal incoherence incarnate. Hence slut shaming. In the club, promiscuity is as good for the goose as it is for the gander, but we can’t let women feel that way the next morning. Hence illicit, elite drug use. When rich white college kids buy weed, it’s cool and hip and proof of their connection to cultural touchstones from Bob Marley to The Chronic. When poor Latinos bringing that weed into the country are arrested for various crimes, that’s proof that Latin America has serious problems that should be walled off from the United States via immigration policy.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 19:45:34 +0000
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