Coopting the Language of Feminism and Civil Rights and Taking It Back

In today's Truthout, Marcy Bloom writes a fabulous piece "What Does 'Feminists for Life' Tell Us About Palin." In it she shows how the organization "Feminists for Life" (Women deserve better: is the tagline.) has legitimized itself by:

coopting "genuine woman-focused" language and values, and wrapping it in a false blanket of 'woman-centered solutions' and alleged loving concern for women, FFL cleverly uses a "pro-woman, pro-life philosophy" and completely manipulates the feminist terminology of empowerment.

It's definitely worth a read. Sarah Palin is a member of FFL.

The same phenomenon has occurred with Ward Connerly and his infamous campaign to end all affirmative action programs in states that permit voter initiatives as a way to by-pass the legislative process. His organization "American Civil Rights Institute" (Race has no place in American life or law: is the tagline.) has campaigned successfully in California and Michigan to end all forms of race-based and gender-based programs, and for November 2008 has two initiatives on the ballot, one in Colorado and the other in Nebraska. Originally, Connerly had his sights on five states including: Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arizona, but failed to qualify for the ballots in those three states.

Like "Feminists for Life," the "American Civil Rights Institute" uses the language of the civil rights movement to press for a "color-blind" society despite the indications that we are nowhere near being free from bias and discrimination, whether intentional or institutional. In court cases challenging the validity of his signature gathering, people have claimed that they were approached by proponents of these intiatives with a question like this: Do you believe in civil rights?

Who doesn't?

Ward Connerly is more interested in his own aggrandizement and personal riches. In the Winter 2008 issue of Ms. Magazine, an investigative team discerned that Ward Connerly has made a lucrative business out of his "American Civil Rights Initiative."

An analysis of IRS filings shows that between 1998 and 2006, Connerly and his business Connerly & Associates received a total of $8.3 million from the two nonprofit organizations he founded in the late 1990s to promote his messages and campaigns -- nearly half of the $17.5 million in total revenues reported in that period by the two nonprofits. In addition to salary and benefits, Connerly receives expense accounts and fees for speaking, media interviews and consulting. In the last reported fiscal year, 2006, he received $1.6 million -- 66 percent of the $2.4 million in revenues his nonprofits generated that year.

This all follows the philosophy of the right-wing maniacs claiming free markets who took control of the Republican Party, turning all activities into money-making machines, whether it is privatizing government functions, non-bid contracts, looting nonprofits and foundations, or just raising money for themselves. Read Frank Thomas in the August 2008 issue of Harper's, " The Wrecking Crew: How a Gang of Right-Wing Con Men Wrecked Washington and Made a Killing." Jack Abramoff made millions while corrupting the processes of government.

This is the question we need to ask: how do we take back our language? How do we explain to people that women are not burdened by abortion, but are burdened by abstinence only programs that keep young men and women ignorant about how their bodies work? How do we explain to people that as much as we wish it wasn't true, American life is different for African Americans than for white people merely because of the color of their skin? Barack and Michelle Obama have compelling stories to tell, but they are exceptional. What about ordinary folks? How do we begin to accept each other as individuals instead of stopping at race?

Reread Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC. Watch it again, because it is a masterful work of reclaiming language and values that are essential to the American ideal, not that we have ever lived up to it, but the ideal of democracy for all. In order to reclaim this country, we have to reclaim our language of hope and aspirations.