Why We Must Be Careful With Herman Cain...

I have been praying that I could stay out of the Herman Cain discourse altogether.  I have 99 problems of my own, and Herman Cain ain't one.  But, I think the discourse is heading in the wrong direction, so I should probably say something now before all of his accusers get reality TV shows.

Clearly, in the blogosphere, the tweet and Facebook universe, and even in the traditional print media, it has become trendy and most acceptable to ride out on Herman Cain.  He is an individual in an unfortunate position, and it is easy for us to pile on criticism when a person is down.  At the hands of bloggers, Herman Cain is anything from a dog, to a cheater, to an ordained minister possessed with a lustful spirit...all before we have seen any of his accusers show and prove he did anything wrong.

Now, it would be most foolhardy of me to articulate an opinion on whether or not Herman Cain did any or all of the things of which he is accused.  I have not seen any evidence and I don't know the man well enough to do that.  But, it seems to me that we owe Herman Cain some deference or at least silence for now.  Here's why:

Professionals of color who have made their way in this world are roundly attacked for one reason or another.  I'm not saying there is some vast conspiracy, or coordinated effort to attack them, it is just so.  In fact, I know of know professional of color who has a love affair with the media or the public.  Let me illustrate what I mean.

The attacks are packaged in one of three ways.  First, professionals of color have their color used against them, even if they never actually mention their color themselves.  Here, professionals of color are marginalized and can only speak about "diversity" issues, are implicitly called different and therefore bad because of their color, or they have their color taken out of context. 

For example, Lani Guinier, for years was called a "quota queen" for her efforts to discuss the voting rights of minorities.  Justice Sotamayor was flogged over and over about her "wise Latina" remarks.  And of course, President Obama has been fighting to prove he's not an African Muslim since he has been on the national scene.

The second way attacks of professionals of color are packaged is their professional acumen is called into question--they are called incompetent boobs.  "He is flash and no substance," "he gives great speeches, but he's an empty suit," "or he's a 'community organizer'" are all examples of this.

And finally, professionals of color are attacked with their sexuality.  Men are seen as over-sexed monsters, who are hungry for lustful encounters.  Women are either seen as asexual (think Aunt Jemima) or vamps who seduce any and everything with money (think every actress of color working today...)

Now, as I said, I can't say what Herman Cain has done or not done.  But it does look like he is an otherwise successful man, who is being attacked with this playbook.  Attacking Cain because it is easy and popular (Black Republicans are easy targets for ridicule, I get it) has broader implications. 

What happens when the next Herman Cain (a Herman Cain whom we actually agree with politically) steps up to make her way in this world?  Will she be oversexed, or undersexed?  Will she be all flash and no substance? Will she be the wise Latina?