What I Like ABout Herman Cain

By dominique DiPrima

Sure he’s no constitutional scholar. He says his hero is Clarence Thomas, he likes “Honkies for Herman,” and he has proposed a fence at the Mexican border that would kill trespassers on contact. Then he tried to say he was just joking about the fence (get it? Dead Mexicans! Hahaha folks these are the jokes.) Then Mr. Cain admitted he lied, that he really wasn’t joking after all.

And yeah, I know this is the same guy whose 999 tax plan increases the tax burden for most poor and middle class families, while giving better breaks than ever to the wealthy…Oh yeah and he thinks the Occupy Wall Street movement is all about haters who are jealous of his Caddilac. So what’s to like?

I like Herman Cain because with his new found (if short-lived) status as a front runner he forces America to acknowledge that African Americans are not monolithic. And that we have plenty of talent, intellect, and business savvy to provide this nation with many presidents to come. And while President Barack Obama clearly runs circles around the pizza mogul, in terms of both intellect and experience, Mr. Cain has convinced enough likely voters to support him to be at the front of the GOP pack.

Some say Mr. Cain is a decoy who will confuse and distract Black voters. ( If that is the strategy it ain’t working.) Some say he is a Trojan Horse who can say and imply things about Black people that his fellow far right Republicans cannot get away with. (Oh you like “Honkies for Herman?” How about “Porch Monkeys for Perry” or “Bi***** for Bachman?” etc!) Some point to his long ties to the infamous Koch brothers and see him as nothing more than the Tea Party in black face. But even these political arguments and Cain’s own idiotic declarations, may force us to deal with the issue of race and class with much more nuance and sophistication than we, as American media consumers,  are typically called upon to do. And that’s one deep dish I could sink my teeth into!