The Balkanizer

Gore as multiculti

HAS anyone noticed that Vice President Gore is turning into Zelig? Every time I turn on the television, he seems to have adopted some new personality to suit the audience he is addressing. Before black audiences, as Mark Steyn and others have pointed out, he is particularly startling. At the NAACP convention, one half expected Gore to address Kweisi Mfume as “Mr. Bones.” Innocent entertainers are not allowed to put on blackface anymore. It is thought to be racist. Even the relatively robust British discontinued their television version of the Black and White Minstrel Show in the late ‘70s. So to have a Democratic vice president of the United States coming over like Al Jolson on speed counts as something of a cultural landmark. It was very nice of the NAACP to pretend not to notice.

About the Author

John O’Sullivan

John O’Sullivan is a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.

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Presidential Election

Gore as multiculti

HAS anyone noticed that Vice President Gore is turning into Zelig? Every time I turn on the television, he seems to have adopted some new personality to suit the audience he is addressing. Before black audiences, as Mark Steyn and others have pointed out, he is particularly startling. At the NAACP convention, one half expected Gore to address Kweisi Mfume as “Mr. Bones.” Innocent entertainers are not allowed to put on blackface anymore. It is thought to be racist. Even the relatively robust British discontinued their television version of the Black and White Minstrel Show in the late ‘70s. So to have a Democratic vice president of the United States coming over like Al Jolson on speed counts as something of a cultural landmark. It was very nice of the NAACP to pretend not to notice.