Arts & Entertainment
B
orn in New York City on
Dec. 9, 1961, arch-conser-
vative Ann Coulter is the
author of eight New York Times
bestsellers and of a nationally-syn-
dicated column for Universal
Press Syndicate. She also serves
as the legal correspondent for
Human Events and is a frequent
guest on such TV shows as The
Today Show, Good Morning
America, The Early Show, The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Sean
Hannity, The O’Reilly Factor, The
Glen Beck Show and HBO’s Real
Time
with
Bill
Maher.
The ever-controversial, flame-
throwing firebrand has been on the
cover of Time Magazine and pro-
filed in publications like TV
Guide, the Guardian, the New
York Observer, National Journal,
Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle Maga-
zine, too. In 2001, she was named
one of the top 100 Public Intellec-
tuals by federal judge Richard
Posner.
A Connecticut native, Coulter
graduated with honors from Cor-
C ELEBRITY
I NTERVIEW
by Kam
Williams
nell University and received her
J.D. from University of Michigan
Law School, where she was an
editor of The Michigan Law
Review. Here, she talks about her
ninth book, “Mugged: Racial
Demagoguery from the Seventies
to Obama.”
Kam Williams: Hi Ann, thanks
for the interview.
Ann Coulter: Thank you, Kam.
KW: I’m a fellow Cornellian,
but I went there a decade ahead of
you.
AC: Wow! It was such a beauti-
ful campus. But were you there
during all the turmoil?
KW: No, I arrived the year after
the famous, black student takeover
with guns that made national
news. But while I was there, we
did have plenty of strikes,
takeovers and demonstrations
about everything from Apartheid
AC: Didn’t you people ever
learn anything? [Laughs]
KW: Rather than reminisce, let
me get right to the questions, since
my readers sent in more than I
could ever get to. Troy Johnson
was upset by a quote from your
book where you counter Michael
Moore’s Stupid White Men by
asking: “Shall we compare SAT
scores, cultural contributions and
inventions?”
Troy
wonders
whether you’re aware of all the
cultural contributions that can be
traced back to Africa, including
Christianity? And are you aware
that blacks tend to outperform
whites from similar socioeconom-
ic backgrounds on standardized
tests?
AC: Yes, in fact, in an early
chapter of Mugged, I rely heavily
on Thomas Sowell’s magnificent
book, Black Rednecks, White Lib-
erals. He points out that blacks in
the North perform better, academ-
ically, than whites in the South
where they did not have much of
an emphasis on learning. But
please note that I’m not the one
making that argument in that sec-
tion about Michael Moore. And by
the way, I’m not a man. White
men have done a lot. It’s silly to
write a book titled, Stupid White
Men.
‘Black Americans are a special group,
and I’m disappointed that they’re not
Republicans, given our traditions’
to the War in Vietnam. There was
so much chaos on campus it
seemed like finals were cancelled
every spring semester.
Page 10 The Portland Skanner
October 17, 2012
KW:
Filmmaker
Kevin
Williams, director of Fear of a
Black Republican asks: Why do
you think the Republican Party
Seven Guitars
OWEN CAREY PHOTO
Beware the Coultergeist!
Blues singer Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton — who had just
gotten out of jail when one of his songs became a hit – is
dead, and this 1940s installment of August Wilson’s history
cycle of plays is a flashback on his life and his
community. The show, which is already basking in rave
reviews, features Lance McQueen, above left, as Barton;
Ramona Lisa Alexander, Mujahid Abdul-Rashid and Gayle
Samuels. Directed by Kevin Jones. Get tickets at
www.artistsrep.org, or call 503-241-1278.
over the next hundred years. So,
suggestions to the contrary drive
Republicans like me crazy.
KW: Marcia Evans says she
agrees with your recent comment
that the U.S. is only indebted to
African-Americans. What prompt-
ed that statement?
AC: I was being a little cross
with a right-wing black friend for
throwing in the Hispanics and the
Asians into a Jesse Jackson-type
Rainbow Coalition. No! No!
Blacks have a special history,
since they were enslaved and were
here as early as the first Ameri-
cans. I hate to sound like a liberal
but these are facts. That makes
blacks a special group and I really
don’t appreciate all these hangers
on coming along. Yes, of course,
black Americans are a special
group, and I’m disappointed that
they’re not Republicans, given our
traditions. We’re not getting much
love in return, despite our efforts.
KW: Why do you think that’s
the case?
AC: Part of the reason is that it’s
really hard to be a black Republi-
can. I see what they go through.
It’s a good little trick the entire
mainstream media has pulled by
describing
Republicans
as
“Racist! Racist! Racist!”
and then turning around and
laughing at us for not hav-
ing more blacks in our party.
That’s why I hope a lot of
black people will read my
book because I think it will
change minds.
KW: One discussion I
Specializing in *short sales
found interesting in Mugged
* bank owned properties
* first time home buyers
was where you point out
* investment properties
that Strom Thurmond was
* residential & commercial
the only segregationist U.S.
Senator to change his affili-
ation from Democratic to
Republican. I would’ve
guessed that there had been
a wholesale flight of South-
ern conservatives to the
Torrey Nelson
Republican Party.
C: 503-381-2107
AC: Thurmond’s the only
W: 503-208-3797
segregationist anyone can
F: 503-536-6523
name. Meanwhile, the Dem-
E: mrtnel@gmail.com
ocratic Party had former
www.dwellrealtypdx.com
Klansmen, members of a
5625 NE MLK Jr. Blvd.
Portland, OR 97211
See COULTER page 16
doesn’t reach out more to African-
Americans on its own terms
today? Have you seen the docu-
mentary?
AC: No, but I’ve heard of it.
KW: It’s excellent. You figure
prominently in it. So does Michael
Steele. Kevin says he’d like to get
you a copy.
AC: Oh, I would love that, and I
love Michael Steele.
KW: Kevin’s basic thesis is that
the Republican Party is hurting
itself by failing to court the black
vote.
AC: Oh, I don’t believe that’s
true at all. Republicans have
reached out so much to black
Republicans because it’s part of
our tradition. Blacks have been in
this nation longer
than most other
Americans with the
possible exception of
WASPs. The first
blacks in Congress
and the first black
Governor were all
Republicans. It was
Republicans
who
fought the Civil War
over slavery and who
introduced the Civil
Rights legislation