Voting Conscience, Not Color

When Chuck Wilder on CRN’s George Putnam show asked me what I was going to write about next, I said to give me a minute and I would think of something. What I didn’t say was that I wanted to write about the election, write something meaningful and from the heart. Because I didn’t want to parrot what everyone else had already written about, I didn’t have a story...until now. Thanks to James Taranto and the “Puffington Host.”

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In his “Best of the Web Today” (August 20, 2008), Taranto brings to our attention one Seth Grahame Smith who presents his inane hypothesis that white people don’t want a black president because it will bring them down a notch...that they will no longer have their superior status in our society. Seth admits in the beginning of his post that he is an idiot, but doesn’t ever “cop” to being a racist. Let me be one of the first to concur, Seth, you are an idiot and I’ll go one step further to say that you are a racist, too. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you why. Let me begin by referring you to a piece in the Wall Street Journal, The Democrats’ Missing History. I suggest you read it to learn more about the political party most associated with liberals. According to Jeffrey Lord, this party worked long and hard to maintain white supremacy in this country. This is conveniently omitted from the history of the Democratic Party located on the DNC website. The Republican Party, on the other hand, worked tirelessly to put in place measures that would allow us to judge people, not by the color of their skin, but by the person. Does that sound familiar? Take a look at the National Black Republican Association website to learn a little bit more about how the party has spearheaded this effort. If you are beginning to feel silly about what you wrote, know that you are not alone in jumping to false conclusions based on your own prejudice. Reuters reported a piece, U.S. Politicians talk in code when it comes to race which pressed as many buttons in me as yours. Let me just say that the one thing I can’t stand for is being accused of prejudice by a person who holds preconceived notions and foists them on me. In this Reuters article, the author writes, “At the same time, references to his [Obama] alleged "inexperience" as a one-term U.S. senator and perceived "arrogance" on a trip to Europe and the Middle East last month could also be seen as subtle racial digs, political commentators say.” Obama is inexperienced and some people do find his attitude condescending. Let’s call a spade a spade (pardon the pun). Hmmm, I wonder if I will get called on the carpet for using this expression. I read recently that the expression black hole was spun as racist. The real issue is that a very vocal minority fights to continue to have race define us. Again, I wonder if I’ll get called on the carpet for using the word minority correctly. What this has done is perpetuate the idea that one group of people needs assistance in order to achieve equality with another group of people. There must be a distinction made between the American tradition of equality: by virtue of being human there is equality of liberty, and Socialism: equality of outcomes. Equality of outcomes is what builds resentment; I don’t care what color the person. What do I fear? I fear that a person who is less qualified will be voted into office on the basis of color, not qualifications. And that is a sentiment that should transcend party lines if a person votes their conscience. If we’re going to blind to something, we should be blind to the color of a person’s skin, not to a political party that uses race to divide and conquer so as to re-enslave on the basis of a person’s skin in a quest for political power.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King (registered Republican), January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968