Why Bill Clinton Is the Least-Deserving Honorary Black Person, Explained

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Who is Bill Clinton?

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Bill Clinton is a white man.

Why is Bill Clinton in the news today?

Bill Clinton is a white man who happened to be president of the United States from 1992 to 2000. His wife, Hillary Clinton, a white woman, is running for president now. Bill Clinton was a popular president and remains very popular with quite a few people.

Naturally, his wife would seem to want to take advantage of that, so heโ€™s done some work on her behalf. On Thursday, while delivering a talk to โ€œhelpโ€ his wifeโ€™s campaign, he was interrupted by some Black Lives Matter protesters who demanded that he address his infamous crime bill, generally regarded today as one of the main culprits behind the disproportionate imprisonment of black Americans. (And also a bill recently denounced by his wife.)

Bill Clinton replied by shouting down the protesters, circling the โ€œsuperpredatorโ€ wagons and spouting some gobbledygook about how African black lives matter, too. It was so bad it felt intentionally bad. Like an NBA team losing games on purpose to have a better chance in the draft lottery. Or going to a performance-art installation called โ€œWhiting While Whiteโ€ at a gallery crawl.

You put โ€œhelpโ€ in quotations earlier. Is there any particular reason why?

Well, a not-so-far-fetched explanation for Bubbaโ€™s meltdown is that, subconsciously, he actually doesnโ€™t want his wife to be president. Michelle Goldberg touched on this Thursday in Slate:

And yet, after all that, once Hillary had lost and Bill Clinton was supporting Obama, the sloppiness ceased and he was back to performing superbly. (Witness, for example, his celebrated speech at the 2008 Democratic convention.) It is somehow only when he is working on his wifeโ€™s behalf that he veers into sabotage. What is needed here is probably a shrink, not a neurologist. Either he doesnโ€™t want her to overtake him or he doesnโ€™t want her to repudiate him. Regardless, Hillary should shut him down. She canโ€™t divorce him, but she can fire him.

I see. Iโ€™ve also noticed that youโ€™ve made repeated references to both Billโ€™s and Hillaryโ€™s race. Is there any particular reason why?

Ever since Bill Clintonโ€™s emergence on the national stage in the early โ€™90s, heโ€™s been seen in a favorable light by many black Americans. There are some superficial reasons for this status that have been discussed ad nauseam. His saxophone playing on Arsenio Hall. His relatively humble backgroundโ€”he came from a working-class family and was raised by a single parentโ€”characteristics that endeared him to many black people, who felt this connected him to us. The shameful way certain shameless Republicans treated him, a dynamic that led Toni Morrison to coin him the first black president.

Hisโ€”and I really, really, really hate this word, but I canโ€™t think of another word that would fit betterโ€”swag. Compared to other politiciansโ€”particularly other white politiciansโ€”he was cool. He was/is equipped with one of the all-time great voices, this low and raspy and inherently intuitive Southern drawl. He carried himself as if he could handle himself and be comfortable anywhere from Salt Lake City to U Street in Washington, D.C.

Also, there were a few, very pragmatic and practical reasons for this affinity. Most notably the political atmosphere in 1992. Weโ€™d just finished 12 consecutive years of a Republican White House that either used black Americans as an extended episode of Fear Factor for America (โ€œIf you donโ€™t vote for me, youโ€™ll be locked in a glass box with 100,000 Willie Hortonsโ€) or just outright ignored us. Although Clinton wasnโ€™t perfect, he wasnโ€™t them. And he smoked weed.

But he was also a politician. A politician who passed certain crime laws that would have a disproportionately negative effect on black America for a generation. A politician who has reminded us that heโ€™s a white man who happens to be a politician by the language he used to convince America that this bill was necessary, the language he used and uses currently to defend the bill, and the language he used to criticize our current president when he was campaigning against Hillary Clinton in 2008. ย ย 

So your point is that white politicians are bad?

No. My point is that Bill Clinton has never deserved whichever โ€œhonorary blackโ€ lauds heโ€™s received. Although he might seem down, when he believes he or his wife is under attack, his default defense is, โ€œIโ€™m a white man and you donโ€™t know what the hell youโ€™re talking about.โ€

He is not a brother from a lighter mother. Or even our cool white BFF. And, despite how much some of us might have wanted him to be one of those things, he never was. I wouldnโ€™t call him an enemy, either. But not a friend.

What is he, then?

A politician. And it would behoove all of us to remember that.

Damon Young is the editor-in-chief of VerySmartBrothas.com. He is also a contributing editor at Ebony.com. He lives in Pittsburgh and he really likes pancakes. You can reach him at [email protected].

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