June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Herman Cain, the beguilingly
personable pizza mogul and Tea Party sweetheart who is showing
well in the so-far uncompelling Republican presidential
nomination campaign, threw a flag early in an interview I
conducted with him last week. I had made the dire mistake of
referring to him as African-American.
“I am an American. Black. Conservative,” he said,
punctuating each aspect of his self-identity. “I don’t use
African-American, because I’m American, I’m black and I’m
conservative. I don’t like people trying to label me. African-American is socially acceptable for some people, but I am not
some people.”
