23 Oct 2014 “Who Are the Racists: Liberals or Conservatives?”; Project 21’s Derryck Green’s First Lecture as new Faculty Member of Prager University Addresses Myth of Conservative Racism
Black Scholar Deconstructs Liberal Myths About Affirmative Action, Voter ID
Washington, D.C. – Derryck Green, a member of the Project 21 black leadership network, is the newest member of the faculty of Prager University, an “online resource promoting knowledge and clarity” that partners with high schools and universities nationwide. Green’s first posted lecture is “Who Are the Racists: Liberals or Conservatives?”
“We are very proud that Project 21’s Derryck Green is now included among some of the best political thinkers of our time at Prager University,” said National Center for Public Policy Research Executive Director David Almasi. “Derryck possesses a keen insight on public policy, and his work with Project 21 over the years helps prove the depth and diversity of political thinking within the black community.”
“In my Prager University lecture, I argue against the slander of racism that the left directs at conservatives. It’s a reflexive mantra to retain power,” said Project 21’s Green. “Despite the fact that conservatives come in all colors and have ample compassion for blacks and others, the racism charge still hurts. I would further suggest that liberals and leftists are actually more racist. They are preoccupied by race, and they constantly inject it where it shouldn’t be.”
In his first Prager University video lecture, which was viewed on YouTube almost 70,000 times in the first 48 hours after it was posted, Green said:
To say that racism is foolish and stupid — not to mention evil — is to understate the case. But, according to many of their critics, conservatives are that stupid and that evil. But, with few exceptions, conservatives are neither. So why is the charge even made? The answer is primarily political: to maintain black support for liberals and liberal policies.
Using racial preferences as an example, Green added:
Conservatives believe that blacks and other minorities are every bit as capable as whites of succeeding as policemen, firemen, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, politicians and college students. Yet, for this belief, conservatives are called racist. The irony, of course, is that those who accuse conservatives of being racist believe that blacks and other minorities are not as capable as whites of succeeding and therefore still need affirmative action almost half a century after it was first implemented.
Green also debunked liberal allegations about conservative-led attempts to protect American voters through commonsense polling place protections such as voter ID and school choice.
Prager University, founded by author and talk radio host Dennis Prager, is a web-based learning resource founded to “promot[e] knowledge and clarity” on difficult and sometimes controversial topics related to fields such as political science, economics and history. Besides Green, other members of the Prager University faculty are columnist and Fox News Channel commentator George Will, American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks, economist and author Walter Williams and investor George Gilder. In addition to working with high schools and universities across America, Prager University also works with families who homeschool their children.
Green’s relationship with Prager University began last August after he was a guest on Prager’s talk radio program to discuss his recent New Visions Commentary for Project 21 on the issue of “race fatigue.” In the wake of the George Zimmerman trial in Florida, Green wrote about his frustration with the “racial grievance industry”: “All this talk about race seems intentionally shortsighted and disingenuous. It simply implicates whites and infantilizes the black man.”
Commenting on his addition to the Prager University faculty, Green said: “I would like to thank Dennis Prager and Prager University for giving me an opportunity to not only bring attention to Project 21, but to do so in a way that defends conservatives and conservatism.”
Every month, among his other work with Project 21 on a wide variety of topics, Green writes an analysis of the Obama economy and its effect on the American public. This analysis is posted the first Friday of each month in conjunction with the release of unemployment data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. They can be found on “Amy Ridenour’s National Center Blog” at www.conservativeblog.org.
In 2014, Project 21 members have been interviewed or cited by the media on current events over 1,500 times, including by the Fox News Special Report with Bret Baier, the O’Reilly Factor, Fox and Friends, CNN’s Situation Room, Salem Radio Network, Sean Hannity, Jim Bohannon, Conservative Commandos Radio, Bill Martinez, Radio America, American Urban Radio Network, Bill Cunningham, Roger Hedgecock, Mike Siegel, Dana Loesch, Thom Hartmann, Progressive Radio Network, The Blaze, EurWeb, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, SiriusXM satellite radio, TVOne, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Orlando Sentinel and 50,000-watt talk radio stations including WBZ-Boston, WJR-Detroit, KDKA-Pittsburgh and WLW-Cincinnati.
Project 21 has also participated in several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court over the years regarding race preferences and voting rights and also defended voter ID laws at the United Nations. Its volunteer members come from all walks of life and are not salaried political professionals.
Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for over two decades, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research ((https://nationalcenter.org).
Contributions to the National Center are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated .
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