2 of 3 Most Admired Figures on the Right are Black

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The statistic is interesting. Of the most admired figures on the right in John Hawkins’ survey, two out of three are black.

1) Scott Walker (63)
1) Clarence Thomas (63)
1) Thomas Sowell (63)

Race I think here is mostly an accident. What the three men have in common is that they are respected without being controversial or especially partisan.

Scott Walker has kept his national presence light and is mainly known for local reforms. Clarence Thomas has been a quiet force advancing conservative ideas on the court in a slow and steady fashion without the volatility of an Alito. Sowell is currently a leading conservative scholar who avoids mendacity and partisan hackery.

It’s an interesting phenomenon that two of the leading elder statement of the conservative movement are black. It’s especially interesting since liberals would have trouble pointing to two equally intellectually weighty and influential black figures dominating their side.

While I do think that race is an accident here, it’s interesting to note that Sowell and Thomas are respected largely for the opposite qualities of the self-appointed black leaders on the liberal side. They’re respected for being contemplative and measured leaders who don’t need to shout to make themselves heard. They’re deep thinkers. It’s hard to think of more opposite figures than Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson.

And that contrast is also a measure of how much damage liberalism has done to the black community.

  • SoCalMike

    I consider Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams and one other black man and 2 Jews to be the PRIMARY teachers and sources of information in my life.
    Yet the first thing people who disagree with me politically do is call me racist.
    I must be a self loathing racist who enjoys and delights torturing himself devoting his life to learning languages spoken by non-whites.

    • Cristinascar

      That’s nothing, their treatment of conservative women is beyond the pale!!! A media , no not a media outlet not ONE. Mentioned that Sarah Palin would be the first woman Vice President think about that. They treated her worse than men, ever, shouldn’t they have treated her as a trail blazer if they wernt so consumed by hate? no man was ever treated as badly, in what is pure Leftist sexism. They do not mention Hitlery without mentioning that she would be the first woman this or that I think the word starts with a ‘c’.

      Jews do the same thing, some major modern Orthodox (non-Hassidic) organizations have started allowing women to become ordained as a new position called ‘Rabba’
      basically the feminine noun for rabbi, the reformed and conservative do not note it, more so, they ridicule them as right wingers, when they are rational and the reformed are extremist creeps.

  • http://libertyandculture.blogspot.com/ Jason P

    Sowell would be in my top 5 list of living public intellectuals.

    • truebearing

      Sowell is a seemingly endless font of wisdom. A genius of common sense, with a wonderfully fluid writing style. He is able to effortlessly simplify things that others would belabor.

      • lyndaaquarius

        so well said. thank you.

  • http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/ Edward Cline

    Amen to that, Brother Daniel. But, while he wasn’t in the Hawkins survey, don’t forget Walter Williams .

    • Bamaguje

      Jason Riley, Larry Elder and Deroy Murdock are also intellectually impressive Blacks.

  • Yehuda Levi

    I agree with Clarence Thomas that he has been treated horribly and with racism by the Democrats/leftists for being what they consider a person of “color” who wandered off their ideological plantation.

    Since Thomas is an extremely successful jurist, this demonstrates that the Democrats are not interested in the success of certain groups, but much more interested in political power.

  • Bamaguje

    “…liberals would have trouble pointing to two equally intellectually weighty and influential black figures dominating their side” – DG.

    How about Obama and Holder… although Obama ain’t really black.
    By the way Mr Greenfield, you should be on the top conservative list.

  • truebearing

    I have great respect for all three. Walker has been something of a miracle in Wisconsin politics.

    Despite the vile treatment Thomas has received, he has always acted with decorum and has been a credit to the Supreme Court. A person of principle and wisdom, he is the antithesis of how the Left wants blacks to think or behave.

    Sowell is a very wise, intelligent, and talented man. His writing is brilliant in its clarity. There are obvious similarities between him and Daniel when it comes to reducing issues to their most understandable form.

    The Left doesn’t have anyone that even comes close to any of these three. To compare Obama, Holder, or Sharpton to Sowell or Thomas is a grievous insult to both.

  • EileenRight

    But liberals will tell you that we only admire them because they’re Uncle Tom Puppet Oreos doing whitey’s bidding,
    Liberals fabricate desperate answers to prop up their failed and flawed ideology.

    • Marcus Garvey

      Exactly. You hate blacks but you’ll let one slide in if he proves to you just how much he hates his own race….pathetic

      • EileenRight

        Speaking of liberals with desperate, fabricated answers……one appears for our entertainment, right on cue.

  • http://islamsfatalflaw.blogspot.com/ BobSmith101

    Ben Carson for pres and Allen West for VP in 2016. The double black republican dream ticket.

  • Kathy Adamski

    It takes an analytical=intelligent mind to find the truth, not be swayed by peer pressure or jump on the bandwagon, as well as courage and humility to face the animosity of those who choose not to think. These men are examples of heroes in the true sense of the word. They are role models to be followed.