Herschel Walker embodies every negative stereotype Black Americans have fought against for decades

For some Republicans, any warm body that can be used as a pawn is sufficient. The fact that Herschel Walker happens to be Black is an irony too delicious to resist for some voters who have chosen to rally behind one of the most unqualified political candidates in recent memory.

To some voters, Walker is that malleable warm body, ready to be used. His difficulty in articulating a comprehensive sentence, his documented history of violence, his obvious lack of understanding and his moral hypocrisy regarding abortion do not matter.

Certainly, Black leaders are entitled to have different thoughts, ideas and political ideologies. Some may disagree with conservative leaders like Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, but they would not describe him as incompetent. Black political leaders can be conservative without being a walking stereotype.

A walking embarrassment

Walker's history of terrorizing women through violent threats and stalking is well-documented, as well as his shameful failure to recognize the multiple children he has fathered.

Will Walker-Warnock debate happen? What to expect? A cancellation.

His own son has suggested that he was a violent and faithless womanizer with even more skeletons in his closet. Countless commentators and observers have already spoken to his inability to cobble enough logical sentences together to survive a debate or speech as well as his frequent lying.

In a community that has fought against stereotypes of violence, criminality, intellectual inferiority and sexual promiscuity, Walker is an embarrassment.

Embarrassment was likely something Herschel Walker’s family was trying to escape. If his son's statement is true, Walker was discouraged from running for office because of his sordid past. Sadly, foolish actions by Black political leaders not only bring shame on immediate family members but to an entire race.

The idea of being judged by the worst examples in your community is not a burden with which most Americans are familiar. As a political leader, Walker would be a representative of the Black community by default, whether he intends to represent the community or not and whether the Black community wants it or not.

The abortion issue: Did Herschel Walker pay for an abortion? Will it matter?

No need to settle for incompetency

There is a legacy of positive Black political leadership – including the late Rep. John Lewis, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Maxine Waters to name a few. And let's not forget Walker's election opponent: Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

The greatest Black leaders of yesterday and today were intelligent, dignified and honest. While even some of the greatest Black leaders have made mistakes, they could not be labeled an embarrassment.

In fact, the characteristics of being honest, intelligent and dignified seem like a pretty low bar that should be attained by any individual interested in public office. Sadly, there are voters who are preparing to relinquish even the minimum positive attributes.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

If Walker is elevated to political office, he could become a useful cautionary tale for racists to illustrate why politicians of color are a bad idea. Of course, recruiting a minority candidate to run against another with the implicit goal of siphoning off votes is not a novel idea – in some ways it’s pure evil genius that is repeated because it's effective.

But this election race is particularly insulting and problematic. Walker’s candidacy is not problematic because of the obvious political strategy to split Black voters. Walker is problematic because he is a perfect caricature of every negative stereotype the Black community has fought against decades. Competent conservative Black Republicans exist, so there was no need to settle for an incompetent one, unless part of the goal was the extra dig of embarrassing the Black community.

Fortunately, there is still time. We do not have to be complacent or complicit. If voters are successful in defeating Walker, we may be able to ward off this type of political tactic in the future. Send a message to the Republican Party that while Walker may be deceived, voters are not.

Njeri Mathis Rutledge, a professor of law at South Texas College of Law Houston and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors, is a former prosecuting attorney, a wife and a mother. She graduated from Spelman College and Harvard Law School. Follow her on Twitter: @NjeriRutledge 

More from Njeri Mathis Rutledge:

Legendary Sidney Poitier portrayed Black men with the dignity they have off screen

Entire country needed a guilty verdict in Chauvin case. But laws still need to change.

Traumatized witnesses, victims of police violence get shut out of compensation funds

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Herschel Walker's senate campaign brings shame to Black community