Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bram Towbin, who is Plainfield Selectboard chair and road commissioner. He also is owner of a wholesale flower farm in Plainfield.
[L]ast week Speaker Paul Ryan denounced Donald Trump’s attack on a federal judge as “a textbook definition of a racist comment.” He then went on to explain his continued support for the Republican presidential nominee.
Ryan’s calculus is that a Trump presidency is the best way to forward the Republican political agenda. In criticizing the speaker’s actions one must remember the fate of Eric Cantor, a former House majority leader and heir apparent to the speakership. He was voted out of office due to his lack of robust support for the Tea Party. Any criticism of Ryan must acknowledge the potentially fatal political consequences of opposing “the Donald.” Ryan adopts the view that real world considerations trump (pardon the expression) moral outrage. Ryan’s response brought to mind an obscure incident that involved his mentor, Jack Kemp.
In 1982 a small college newspaper, located just across from Norwich, Vermont, ran an article that many viewed as racist. The Dartmouth Review was the leading conservative student voice of its time. Rep. Jack Kemp, a rising star in the Republican Party, was a board member. Other prominent figures were closely affiliated, including William F. Buckley Jr. and Jeffrey Hart. The newspaper was also a testing ground for many of today’s leading conservative voices. The radio host Laura Ingraham became editor-in-chief. Her predecessor, the person who approved publication of “Dis Sho Ain’t No Jive, Bro,” was Dinesh D’Souza. The article was an attack on affirmative action and written in a degrading minstrel dialect. Here is an excerpt:
Dese boys be sayin’ dat we be comin’ to Dartmut’and not takin’ the classics. You know, Homa, Shakesphere; but I hes’ dey all be co’d in da gound, six feet unda, and whatcha be askin’ us to learn from dem? We culturally ‘lightened, too. We be takin’ hard courses in many subjects, like Afro-Am studies, women’s studies, and policy studies. And who be mouthin’ ‘bout us not bein’ good road? I be practicly knowin’ ‘Roots’ cova to cova, ‘til my mine be boogying to da words! And I be watchin’ the Jeffersons on TV ‘til I be blue in da face.”
I attended Dartmouth at this time and lived in an apartment above the newspaper’s office. I can attest to the media frenzy and the outrage within the Dartmouth community. The event received national coverage. I ran into D’Souza in the hallway and questioned him about the piece. His response was that “people need to have more of a sense of humor.” In public statements to the press, he denied the Review was the cause of racial tension on campus. He assigned blame to the black students association. The event, in hindsight, was a stepping stone for D’Souza’s world famous career as a conservative firebrand. In fact, D’Souza might be credited with being a forerunner of Trump-style reality television politics.
In quitting he risked the ire of many powerful Review supporters who could be helpful in his future presidential bid. Highlighting the unpopularity of his action, none of the luminaries associated with the Dartmouth Review followed his lead.
In the context of building careers, the race-baiting paid dividends for many involved. The author of the article, Keeney Jones, went on to be a speechwriter for the prominent Republican pundit William Bennett before becoming a Catholic priest. The mega-star Laura Ingraham embraced the spirit of Jones’ work by writing incendiary articles attacking other groups she considered coddled by the Dartmouth administration. This included the Gay Students Association and William Cole, one of the very few African-American professors at the school. He was fired after inappropriately confronting Ingraham after the Review ran her scathing piece on his music class.
Mr. Kemp, however, had a very different response. At this point in his career the former NFL quarterback was building a reputation as a serious contender for the presidency. He would unsuccessfully run for that office six years after the Review controversy. Kemp eschewed putting the article in the matrix of careerism. He found the piece offensive and immediately resigned from the board. In quitting he risked the ire of many powerful Review supporters who could be helpful in his future presidential bid. Highlighting the unpopularity of his action, none of the luminaries associated with the Dartmouth Review followed his lead.
Concern for racial justice has been one of the cornerstones of Kemp’s career as an athlete and politician. As a professional football player he was appalled by the legally sanctioned racism that divided him from his black teammates when off the field. In 1965 African-American players were denied entry to New Orleans restaurants and taxicabs. That city was chosen to host that year’s AFC All Star game. As a prominent player and head of the union, Kemp helped move the game to Houston, where there were no such prohibitions. Such a stand might seem de rigueur by contemporary standards, but as a white football player during the height of the civil rights struggle, one might characterize his actions as both heroic and revolutionary. It also explains the passion with which Kemp rebuffed the Dartmouth Review. Here is an excerpt from his resignation letter:
I do not want my name to appear in your paper. I am concerned that the association of my name with the Dartmouth Review is interpreted as an endorsement and I emphatically do not endorse the kind of antics displayed in your article.
Paul Ryan was probably channeling his late mentor when he stood up for Muslims in the wake of Mr. Trump’s remarks in his presidential press conference debut. When Ryan accepted the vice president position on the Romney ticket at the Republican convention in 2012, he chose to invoke the memory of his brave friend:
“I learned a good deal about economics, and about America, from the author of the Reagan tax reforms – the great Jack Kemp. What gave Jack that incredible enthusiasm was his belief in the possibilities of free people, in the power of free enterprise and strong communities to overcome poverty and despair. We need that same optimism right now.
It is very hard to find Kemp’s optimism when his protege appears to have forgotten a central tenant of the quarterback’s legacy. The speaker of the House is probably correct that continued support for Trump is politically expedient and will pay dividends. D’Souza’s career is a case study in trading moral fortitude for being a bestselling author and top grossing filmmaker. Kemp, however, thought material success was secondary to larger considerations. Some things are more important than being president. Perhaps his passion was rooted in his Protestant faith tradition. Knowing Mr. Ryan is a practicing Catholic he might have brought up the example of St. Thomas More. Imagine Kemp taking the speaker aside and invoking the film, “A Man for All Seasons,” based on the martyr’s life. In the movie More is trying to sway a fellow politician who has been offered a small kingdom as a bribe. His words were, “It profits a man nothing to give his soul of the whole world … but for Wales?”
