These men do not vote Republican or go to Trump rallies – their politics is conservative in a different sense – they’re looking to conserve black communities. They mean to confront racism in a reasonable and principled way, building on all the good things that civil rights have brought to America without damning the country. They know the suffering and humiliations black men suffer, but they also talk about their fathers teaching them to be responsible. They grasp human nature better than the liberals who have suffered nothing and demand everything.
What America can always learn from black people is tragedy. One part of America is as much victim as beneficiary of Progress. Things do not always get better and people who promise perfection are often lying or self-deceived and, either way, will bring catastrophe. There is a unique dignity in insisting on morality and self-respect in trying circumstances and against elite opinion, above all. We should admire, imitate, and honor these men. Community and family can bring the nation together despite our partisan divides.
We can have a conservative majority this way. But to do so we have to behave as these men have and as they say we should. Complaining about an unfair system or discrimination or being silenced or betrayed by elites will not do it. Anger leading to madness will certainly not do it. Finding and following leaders who are serious will do it. Conservatives shocked by their elites’ betrayal need Denzel as much as young black men do.
