timely piece from augusta chronicle...
Get real on race
President should seize chance to lead national dialogue on race
Attorney General Eric Holder said recently that America is "essentially a nation of cowards" for not talking more frankly about race.
Only days later, protesters from the NAACP are demanding the head of an editorial cartoonist because they think he compared Barack Obama to a chimpanzee.
If this is a nation of cowards - and we don't think it is - this kind of thing is precisely why.
First things first.
If we thought for a second that cartoonist Sean Delonas really intended to compare our president to a chimpanzee, we'd be the first to call for his being tossed out on his stump. President Bush was compared to a chimp too, but that in no way carries the racist baggage of doing such a thing to our first black president. And, in fact, no one came out swinging faster or harder than we did when a Marietta, Ga., bar owner last year sold T-shirts depicting Obama as the chimpanzee children's book star Curious George ("Spurious George," May 16 Augusta Chronicle).
We just don't see the same hurtful intent in the cartoon incident. Not at all.
In the New York Post cartoon, police officers have shot a chimp, and one says, "They'll have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill."
Delonas was using the metaphor of the recent police shooting of a chimp in Connecticut that had attacked a woman, in order to make a statement about how brainless he thinks the stimulus bill is.
In a real "nation of cowards," such matters of opinion will be left unexpressed, for fear of offending someone who might take it wrong.
Meanwhile, the New York Post has apologized to those who did take it wrong. But in today's America, you can be taken wrong and apologize and still lose your job.
The truth is, Barack Obama did not write that bill anyway. It was written by an out-of-control Democratic majority led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who couldn't help but put every pent-up left-wing cause into the massive spending bill. Much of it had nothing to do with stimulating the economy.
It was, as the cartoon implied, a stupid bill.
Still, rather than have a frank discussion, some want the cartoonist's head on a platter.
This isn't the kind of America Barack Obama talked about in his landmark speech on race in 2008. In it, he denounced his former pastor's racist sermons by saying the Rev. Jeremiah Wright "expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America."
Likewise with this hyper-emotional reaction to the cartoon - and with the words of Obama's own attorney general.
The president could calm the waters in both instances. We wish he would let it be known that he doesn't take offense to the cartoon. And, as Forbes.com columnist Tunku Varadarajan writes, the president should rebut Mr. Holder's view of America, which is so completely at odds with the nation that just elected a black man president.
"President Obama, could you set the record straight?" writes Varadarajan. "Tell us that your attorney general is mistaken and misguided. Tell us, please, that he ought to know better."
In short, the president needs to lead the discussion his friend is so anxious for.
From the Tuesday, February 24, 2009 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
Comments
Tue, Jun 18, 2013 - 11:05 AM
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Tue, Jun 18, 2013 - 10:28 AM
Way to go Randy!!!
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They are going there to play football?
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Although President Obama is of African-American descent he largely declined to make race a central theme of his campaign. Within weeks of beginning his first term though he tapped as the country's top law enforcement officer a man that is making it clear that race relations will be a priority.
In a speech last week, Attorney General Eric Holder called America a "nation of cowards" when it comes to discussing race.
Holder, the nation's first African American attorney general, made the statement at a Department of Justice celebration of Black History Month. He urged people "to find ways to force ourselves to confront that which we have become expert at avoiding" and said the black experience and the country are inextricably tied together.
"The need to confront our racial past and our racial present and to understand the history of African people in this country endures," Holder said. "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."
No sooner had these remarks been made than the news lit up. I for one think the words were divisive and insensitive. I don't think they brought to light an issue but rather poured salt into an open wound. The attorney general should be more cautious with his words and more mindful of the position he holds when he is operating from that big of a pulpit.
Now I do think people need to get past their personal hang ups and discuss race openly without being offensive or offended. It is time for us to be able to have such dialogue. Yes, this country has done a decent job of melding the races in the workplace, work still must be done in social settings.
We are voluntarily socially segregated. As long as two people exist of different ethnic backgrounds there will be some sort of segregation. It is natural. But we don't have to add that to an arsenal of insensitivity and flagrance. We should use this time in our American history when we have a black president as one of the final steps in healing the wounds of slavery.
I would hope these type words would disappear, and I believe we would move away from racism.
===============================================
Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:
We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.
Here is a model separation agreement:
Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.
We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them).
We'll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .
You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.
We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N.. but we will no longer be paying the bill.
We'll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.
You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute Imagine, I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World.
We'll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.
Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.
Sincerely,
John J.
Now you understand how we American left-leaning liberals felt when George Bush won his second questionable election in 2004. Sucks, dont it!
it don't suck because i know it's those left-leaning liberals that are dicking up this country. i'm kind of looking forward to the up and fast approaching new american revolution. what about you?
I thought we had the revolution last November. We could divide things up like you said though. I'm afraid you can't claim those Judeo-Christian values all for your side. God told His nation Isreal that they would prosper as long as they lived according to his statutes. They were punished when they ignored His wishes. You'll have to share Jesus with us too. He told his people to love their neighbors and their enemies. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, forgave them repeatedly because of their weaknesses and ignorance. He just couldn't tolerate the hypocrites. I guess you could call Him a peacenik or a war protester. He called Himself the Prince of Peace. He told His people to seek peace and persue it. He also said to give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's. Uncle Sam issues the greenbacks so give him back what he wants. Pray he uses it wisely and all this nation will be blessed. You know what happens if we love our money. I think it is the root of all something or another. You can have the rest if you want it thet bad. I'll be OK. How soon are ya'll packing?
I've paid my taxes since the Carter administration. Dont assume this is all about paying taxes. Taxes are something the conservatives use to appeal to your greedy side. You know there would no America without taxes. If we continue on the path they have us on, there will be no place left for hard working people to earn a living. There will be no income to owe taxes on. We dont want socialism but the old way aint working. The old arguements sound empty now.