(Cedricmuhammad.com) In order to understand the power of some human beings you simply have to be in their physical presence and watch them in a public setting. Entertainers understand this dynamic, are expected to have it, and work to professionally cultivate it – but the arena in which it may matter more than any other is in the world of politics. In my personal experience, the two American political leaders who embody this charismatic quality the most are, from the Feminine Side of God – Cynthia McKinney (a secret to her electoral success that her worst enemies underestimated); and from mankind, Jack Kemp.
I first met Jack Kemp, in Florida, in 1999. He deliberately went out of his way to introduce himself to me. As a matter of fact, to this very moment, I have no idea how he physically got in front of me. One minute he was on the other side of the room working the crowd, and the very next, I saw his White hand extended and his physical frame in front of me, “Hi Cedric, I’ve heard a lot of great things about you! Thanks so much for your kind words about me.” We exchanged greetings and I told him how pleased I was to finally meet him.
The social butterflies that we both were, we then floated on. Real recognizes real.
[Our mutual friend – Jude Wanniski – the President of Polyconomics, Inc. - had been telling me how much he wanted me to meet ‘Jack,’ for a couple of years. It finally happened at this particular client conference, where I attended, as Jude’s personal guest – the only one not worth at least $10 million in the room, I would later learn. It would be the first of three meetings I would have with Mr. Kemp.]
Now, I’ve been in the same room as President Bill Clinton (a small room with no more than 200 people), but only to hear him speak. A family member of mine has met him personally, and has echoed what so many say of his phenomenal people-skills. The closest President Obama and I have been to one another is passing one another on the street in Washington, when he was Senator. On another occasion, we were separated by a window. So, I can’t bear witness to any hypnotic powers of our two black Presidents (wink, wink).
But Jack Kemp’s personality, indeed was special – with the endearing public manner that I have come to expect from great quarterbacks, Hip-Hop MCs, and Christian Preachers.
But there was substance with the style.
Not necessarily in terms of raw intellectual power – a delicate issue with Kemp, as his political tutor, was the audacious genius, Jude Wanniski, who was not shy about letting you know that he was supplying Jack with his best ideas. But, rather, in terms of Jack Kemp’s consistent passion for improving America’s racial divide.
As a great NFL quarterback, his understanding of Blacks (particularly men) was guided by nuances about the Black experience that Whites could only learn in a locker room full of the ‘Brothers’ (by the way, access to this kind of ‘window’ is one of the two secret reasons Black comedians are so popular with White audiences). Jack, anecdotally gained, through contact with Blacks in sports, what anthropologists seek to gain empirically when they come among a social group they desire to study.
His deepest insights regarding the painful history of Blacks in America, and his lesser-known respectful view of the Islamic world, which impacted his relatively doveish prescriptions for American foreign policy, I suspect come from his being a Shriner (a 32nd or 33rd Degree Mason).
As a result, Kemp the politician was such a rare creation – especially among an at times tone deaf Republican Party – because of the instincts, experience and insight he gained as Kemp, the quarterback, and yes, Kemp, the Shriner.
Jack’s dedication and consistent attention to race relations was a source of novelty, marginal utility, and differentiation within the Republican Party, and generated the psychic income of cultural acceptance and credibility among Blacks – which so many Whites secretly crave.
It was pragmatic, revolutionary, and candid – just like Jack.
At times, it found him out of place, sounding a bit paternalistic and transparently calculating – subsuming his cultural brilliance with too many ideological talking points, as was the case with his 2008 opinion editorial in The Wall Street Journal, “Obama and Economic Opportunity.” (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120839404671921509.html)
But these were few and far in between a majority of brilliant and courageous steps and initiatives, like when he praised the Million Man March and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s good words and work or when he would chastise his political party for its aversion to Black voter outreach and its rigid adherence to ideological talking points, – regardless of place and time – and demonstrate how it could be done successfully [always with an assist from Jude, who would openly announce any deviations in this area by Kemp. A classic and hilarious example can be found in the1988 Super Tuesday Primaries where Kemp failed to differentiate himself enough for Jude’s taste from George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole – wasting $1,000,000 on Reagan-like optimism ads produced by Phil Dusenberry rather than going deep, with a message of economic growth and Black outreach. The March 11, 1988 Wall Street Journal writes, “ ‘I argued that 20% of the media buy should go toward pointing out the weaknesses of Dole and Bush, and the rest should go to tell people what you want to do when you are president,’ says Jude Wanniski, a Kemp adviser, ‘Jack never did that.’ In frustration, Mr. Wanniski says he and a few allies raised $10,000 on their own to buy a four-page newspaper spread in Charleston, S.C., before last Saturday’s primary. The spread stressed Mr. Kemp’s optimistic vision of lower taxes, more jobs, opportunity for the poor through greater choice, and ‘moving America forward but leaving no one behind,’ Mr. Kemp’s ‘Good Shepherd’ line. Though Kemp finished fourth in most of the state, he finished second in Charleston County (he still lost 3 to 1 to Mr. Bush).”]
When he was on his game, Jack Kemp was the very best the Republican party can produce. Unfortunately time and circumstance always found Kemp out of political season or too pre-occupied with business interests to strike out with a successful President campaign, but pound-for-pound he was, in my mind, the total package among available Republican politicians.
I wrote this publicly in 1998 [see: 'Kemp - The Glue Of The Republican Party' at: http://polyconomics.org/memos/mm-980602.htm]
Jack referred to this piece in our first conversation.
Within the Republican party, Jack Kemp’s understanding that cultural sensibility was often more powerful than political ideology was appreciated by a minority – individuals like Conservative Columnist Bob Novak and the O.G. of the Current Generation of Black Conservatives – Armstrong Williams (who told me in 1999, ‘Kemp Is A Liberal!’ while approving of Jack’s efforts to engage Minister Farrakhan). But it was never embraced by the party mainstream, its powerful strategists, and more importantly by its economic growth wing, which understood that Kemp was right on how entrepreneurship could affect Black Americans and the poor, but who never had the stomach for Jack Kemp and Jude Wanniski’s ambitious methodology toward ending the racial divide in this country.
Part of that unfortunate result was due to the tense relationship between The Nation of Islam and Members of the American Political Jewish Establishment (whose membership influences and includes individuals in the economic growth wing of the Republican Party).
The smear of Minister Farrakhan, with the label of anti-Semitism and the fear among some Zionists that the Minister’s influence could lead to Blacks leaving the Democratic Party or alter the Party’s views on America’s relationship to Israel all complicated matters for Jack Kemp – whose public and private efforts to broker a dialogue between Minister Farrakhan and the Jewish Political Establishment were always frustrated.
The result was a spasmodic initiative, which found Kemp pressured to ‘denounce Farrakhan,’ after having just praised him, and then privately apologizing to the Minister in person (an event that Jude personally told me about and publicly wrote took place at, you guessed it, a sporting event – a boxing match, of all places.)
For more background on this see Jude Wanniski’s ‘Farrakhan & Kemp’
(http://polyconomics.org/memos/mm-961014.htm)
On Jack’s efforts to end the racial divide, I will conclude, as to me, it is perhaps the legacy that Jack (and Jude) cared about the most.
And it is what Jack Kemp and I primarily discussed in our brief interactions.
What Jack Kemp represented, was a certain form of White manhood and honesty that is necessary to produce real socio-economic change in a country whose ‘original sin’ – the enslavement of an entire people – has not even been officially apologized for much less officially studied (H.R. 40 continues to languish in the House of Representatives, oddly now, an intention of its original sponsor – Rep. John Conyers – who continues to rationalize that the timing is not right, most recently using the campaign of a Black man for president as excuse.)
With the passing of Jack Kemp, the country has lost a skilled pragmatic politician who could win elections, but more importantly a Quarterback, Shriner, and Man, who was willing to make an investment, and even ‘lose’ on what mattered most.
May his testament inspire others to follow his example, because Black president or not, the racial divide has not been bridged in any meaningful way.
We will one day (probably soon) see that euphoria over symbolism that induces amnesia and enables denial over problems, is no substitute for consistent candor and sobering dialogue that produces a permanent solution.
In 2009, America gained a brilliant Black man of important symbolic value, in the White House, but it also lost a White man, full of substance.
Cedric Muhammad
May 5, 2009
great words Bro Cedrick
Loved the article! Interesting backdrop for me. When I was a young green student revolutionary/activist in college, Kemp was a member of our Board of Trustees. I protested, marched, ranted, spazzed-out at how this university could have this “white man” on the board of trustees. I started doing research in order to “expose him” and actually found out that he was an ally. Needless to say I was thoroughly embarassed and NEVER uttered a bad word about Kemp since then (that was the early to mid 90′s). It just proves that things are not always what they seem…
I remember all of those things taking place as a student of Polyconomics.com’s SSU. Jack Kemp was an admirable man epecially in terms of economics and striving to bridge the racial divide. I remember Jude saying that he wanted to get Blacks to enter into the Republican party. I was hurt to hear about Jack’s passing. Although I’ve never met the man personally, I did feel somewhat of a kindred spirit due to our studying under the same teacher. I remember when that article “Farrakhan & Kemp” was first posted. His transition will be felt by many–whether they knew him or not. This is because of the impact he has had on the American economy. He will be missed.
Important piece Cedric. I think Jack would be most proud of your sentiments…as would Jude. I think the quality that you Jack share is your irrepressible humanity that cannot be smothered by any ideology.
Cedric: Terrific piece and thank you as always for helping keep the true movement alive. The revisionists drive me up the wall. — Ron
PS — I was the other guy in the room not worth the $10M!