PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Chris Freind
The U.S. House of Representatives just passed a resolution apologizing to black Americans for slavery and the racial injustice of Jim Crow laws. As with most things Congress does, this action is completely meaningless, nothing more than political grand standing. But the biggest irony is that many supporters of this resolution are still adhering to racist policies.
Try to follow the logic on this one:
The resolution was the brainchild of white Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen, who won his majority-black district two years ago because his twelve black primary opponents split the vote, but is now facing a significant black challenger. In his attempt to ingratiate himself with the black voters, Cohen shamelessly tried to join the Congressional Black Caucus. Unfortunately for Cohen, he was rejected for a somewhat obvious reason.
He isn't black.
By definition, that's racist. And while we're on the subject of telling it like it is, so is the existence of the Black Caucus. Any organization that prohibits membership based on skin color is racist and bigoted. Period. Of this there can be no argument.
What is lost on the Black Caucus and wannabes like Cohen is that they are embracing the spirit of the very Jim Crow laws they purport to abhor. These laws mandated segregation in all public facilities, with a "separate but equal" status for black Americans. While they were repealed in the 1960's, everything in which the Black Caucus engages still screams "separate". The ultimate hypocrisy about so many in the race relations business is that they claim to want equality, but their actions say otherwise.
The Black Caucus. Black magazines. Black colleges and fraternities. Black organizations. We even have Black History Month. Since it would never be tolerated to have equivalent organizations for any other ethnicity or race, (it would be "racist" to have a white History Month or Italian-only colleges), the result is an ever-widening gulf between Black and every other race. Instead of achieving unity, these entities only serve to increase our differences and facilitate more segregation.
Take the presidential election. Barack Obama has raised over $300 million, draws huge crowds, and enjoys favorable ---and nonstop--- media coverage on an unprecedented scale. Since the political climate is toxic for the Republican Party, this election should be in the bag for him. And yet he is virtually tied in the polls. Why?
You don't need expert political pollsters and pundits to reveal the answer, because it is intuitive to all Americans of every ethnicity. Race is, far and away, the biggest factor in this election. The sad part is that it shouldn't be.
It's not that the majority of Americans are racist or even harbor slight racist tendencies. But there is an unshakable level of mistrust between black and white because of the self-centered actions of political parties and racist leaders.
The Democrats exploit race relations for political gain, playing the race card whenever convenient to keep the people divided. The Republicans don't have the guts to fight against blatantly racist and divisive policies, such as affirmative action, and lack the wisdom to realize that the majority of black voters agree with Republican principles much more so than Democratic ones. (The majority of blacks were proud members of the Party of Lincoln all the way through the 1920's). But worst of all, racists like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton continue to be afforded national platforms from which to spew their hateful rhetoric. Give them credit for two things: they keep segregation alive and well---and their bank accounts full.
The biggest casualty, of course, is the people. America will survive and eventually overcome the setbacks it has encountered along the road to "equality", but too many have needlessly suffered. It's time to do away with the Black Caucus and divisive terms like African-American. Let us stop worshipping our differences and concentrate on that which unites us.
Maybe then we'll realize that there's only one race that counts--- the human race.
