OPINION:
In a recent op-ed published by The Nation, Elie Mystal writes one of the most egregious and racist articles I have ever read. This intellectually lazy, vile and hate-filled hit piece on Herschel Walker demeans Black excellence and contributes to the Democrat Party’s divisive ideology that all Black people are monolithic. Don’t let Democrats fool you, they only care about diversity if you share their liberal political ideology.
There is so much to unpack in Mr. Mystal’s attack on the free-thinking Black American, but one thing that stands out immediately is the timing of his piece published in The Nation. It’s no coincidence that Mr. Walker and other prominent Black conservatives find themselves in the crosshairs of the left just as Mr. Biden records some of the lowest approval ratings among Black Americans in history.
In fact, according to a recent Quinnipiac University Poll, Mr. Biden’s approval ratings among some minorities and independents are now in the 20s. The Democrat Party, along with the Biden-Harris administration, is rapidly losing credibility, especially with minority voters.
I don’t blame Mr. Mystal, The Nation magazine or the Democrat Party for pushing the panic button and seeing over 100 Black Republicans, like myself, run for federal, state and local office has to make them nervous — especially because we are winning. What I take issue with is personally attacking Black conservatives because our values don’t align with their demands. Democrats may think they own our minds due to the color of our skin, but we were born free, and we will act accordingly.
Black conservative leaders like Sen. Tim Scott, Mr. Walker, J.C. Watts and Paris Dennard are an existential threat to the left’s narrative. They will have you believe that the GOP is not the party of opportunity for all Americans, yet Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans have joined the Republican Party in droves over the last 16 months.
If the Republican Party is what Mr. Mystal and other progressive race-baiters claim, then explain how we exist. Explain how I was able to win a Republican primary by over 25% in a predominantly white majority Texas Congressional seat, against eight white men.
Whenever the left fails to win arguments based on values and policy, there’s usually an irrational and highly flawed appeal to emotion just around the corner. Calling Mr. Walker “an animated caricature of a Black person,” sure doesn’t seem like a logical argument to me.
Mr. Walker achieved the American dream, and now he’s fighting to preserve that dream for future generations in Georgia, yet the left’s woke mob is trying to dismantle him. Black conservatives represent everything the left claims does not exist, and to preserve their narrative, they demean us and censor our voices.
Just look at the facts and ask yourself, which party is fighting to preserve the traditional family? Which party is standing up for fatherhood? Which party is fighting for the rights of biological women? Which party is fighting to save Black lives from on-demand abortions that target the Black community? The Republican Party.
Despite what Mr. Mystal may say, Mr. Walker’s candidacy is not a “white insult to Black people.” It’s a Black insult to progressive leftists who yearn for the days of 19th-century thinking, like Mr. Biden. A white Democrat. Who, as a candidate, reminded us, “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.”
Now despite what Mr. Biden, Mr. Mystal or others might believe, I’ve been Black my whole life. Whom I choose to support for president, what I choose to believe or what values I hold certainly does not change the color of my skin or my connection to the Black community, but it does change the way the left views my skin.
Once upon a time, views like this would be considered racist. Today, they’re perfectly acceptable as long as they are uttered by a left-wing race-baiting author all in the name of cultural progressivism.
• Wesley Hunt is the Republican nominee for Congress in Texas District 38. He is married with two daughters and a U.S. Army veteran. Follow him on Twitter at @WesleyHuntTX.
