You sound like a “White” man
I have often heard this statement applied to conservative African Americans that have experienced career success as investors, entrepreneurs, consultants, even conservative academics. I have wondered if instead of dismissing the successful African American by saying they “sound” like a “white” man, they paused and realized that in our capitalistic system, you can succeed regardless of your skin color and you can stack the odds in your favor if you learn how our system works.
Thomas Sowell has invested a lot of time in social economics and determined that personal values often inherited from one’s family, culture, and traditions play a huge role in one’s success. You don’t have to be white or has he points out, Jewish or Chinese to be successful. You just need to embrace the values that economically successful culture promote.
I once read the story of Ben Carson’s mother. She was a single mother, who cleaned houses of rich people. She noticed how many books they had and concluded that reading was the key to getting rich. Even while she could not read herself, she made her two sons read a book and write book reports (which they did not realize she could not read). In forcing her children to read, she adopted the culture of successful people and transferred it to her children. While Ben Carson is well known for his success, his brother also achieved career success. Ben Carson does not sound like a white man; he sounds like a successful man.
Larry Elder’s father moved from Chicago and opened a cafe. Larry Elder went on to become a successful author, talk show host, and according to his financial disclosure has a net worth of around $20 million. He does not sound like a “white” man, he sounds like a successful man. Herman Cain was born the son of a cleaning woman. Somehow, he got his college degree attending an HBOC as his father worked three jobs so he could provide his family with a home and pay his children’s college tuition. Cain’s net worth before he died was over $5 million. He definitely did not “sound” like a white man, but he was a successful man.
America is loaded with successful black men and women, that show, that skin color does not make someone a victim and success does not make someone “white”. As the grandfather of five African Americans, I have no issue with my grandchildren learning the history of racism in America, but far more important to me is that they learn the history of successful black men including Obama. Learning the history of racism won’t prepare them for life, but understanding how successful African Americans succeeded will.
When I grew up I read a book which I can’t even remember the title anymore. It was a brief biography of some of the most successful but not exactly men in American history that are not household names. I think the point of the book was to illustrate some of the character traits of these men and how those traits translated into financial success. I was listening to Charles Payne today and his advice on how to succeed investing in the market. He gets it… to me he doesn’t sound like a “white” man, just someone who knows what he is talking about, and proves it through his personal success. He is worth an estimated $12 million.
I know a very successful black woman doctor who grew up in poor black neighborhoods of LA. I asked her if she ever considered mentoring to young black girls from her old neighborhood (my daughter volunteered to tutor young black middle school girls in science in a similar neighborhood, while she was attending college). This woman said “no”, she didn’t think she would be welcome there. It feels like many in the black community ostracize there fellow African Americans if they become successful the old fashion way (as Smith Barney commercials used to emphasize) by earning their success.
It feels like politicians both black and white benefit from the blacks identifying as victims and so anyone interested in teaching black children how to succeed threatens “the system” that these politicians take advantage of. When Biden said to the black media host, that he is not black if he does not vote for him, the message was clear. Being “black” means towing the rope and if you think for yourself and arrive to a place where you adopt values that time and again produce success… then you will “sound” like a “white” man. I pray my grandchildren ignore this pressure, they have role models of successful white, black, and Asians within their extended family to illustrate the culture and values that produce successful “black” citizens, and they are the same ones for Asians and whites.
Perhaps someone reading this is a great writer and will write a book about 20 or so successful black Americans whose name are not on the lips of most people and identify what values and attributes led to their success… my bet is those attributes and values will include hard work, perseverance, education, moral character, raw intelligence, among others… none of those things come with a “skin color” requirement.
