The Real Racists in Politics

With an African-American and a woman running for President, it seems unlikely that we could get through the entire campaign without discussing race and gender equality issues. It seems that both have waited for the other to bring it up, but Hillary drew first blood (albeit vicariously) and Barack has since been on the defensive. What has really hurt him, however, are the comments of his pastor, Rev. Wright, and (even more so) the response to that by the press and others. To his credit, Obama has been attempting to run his campaign outside of the race issue, but he was finally forced last week to discuss it at length. The jury is still out concerning the effectiveness of his speech, but it seems to be somewhere between “the best speech on race ever given” and “completely ineffective” depending on who you listen to.

Dinesh D’Souza wrote a great book on the topic, which I read some years ago, The End of Racism. He seems to confirm my own experience that racism now exists, mostly, for the sake of racism. Although there are still individuals with unjust biases towards those of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds from themselves, the barriers that once existed because of color and creed simply do not continue to exist in this country in the form which they once had. Don’t misunderstand me, there are still barriers. But the barriers that now exist are dependant upon an individuals financial status much more than anything else.

Of course there are those who seem determined to perpetuate racism as the cause of all things bad in America. Rev.Wright, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are chief among them. The so-called “Hip-Hop Culture” leads the way in making sure any person of color continues to feel oppressed and repressed. More significantly, they want to make sure that people stay angry and continue to point fingers and place blame.

Not only was Geraldine Ferraro wrong, but she illustrates what is so wrong with the liberal racism. They believe that a black man could not be president without relying on his color to propel him into the spotlight. They believe people of color could not get jobs or educations based on abilities, so they offer affirmative action to compensate. In the public schools we continue to be forced to analyze test scores and general performance according to race and then develop programs designed to help the “lower performing” races.

What is ironic is that when people claim that the need for special programs based on race no longer exists, they are labeled racist and it creates such an uproar that we simply stopped trying to fight it. So racism continues for its own sake.

Truth be told, I don’t mind a woman president, but I don’t want one who wants to be a “woman president.” I don’t mind a president who is black, but I don’t want a “black president.” I don’t want Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama to be president because I disagree with their politics. One of the reasons I disagree with their politics is that their policies will perpetuate the divisions in America; along race lines as well as others. The real racists are those preventing the nation from moving past racism by promoting anger, hatred and blame.