My friend, colleague and fellow tea partier, Lloyd Marcus, recently wrote an article entitled "Ramblings about race" (CanadaFreePress.com, Aug. 14, 2010). He wrote:
For America to move forward, it is crucial that we cease falling prey to the divisive tactic of pandering to groups. Identity politics must end in America. Characterless politicians such as Obama have been skillfully pitting groups against each other dividing and conquering us for years – as blacks vs. whites, rich vs. poor, legal vs. illegal and achievers vs. non-achievers."
Why do you think liberal politicians created hyphenated Americans – and why are they so vehemently outraged whenever anyone dares to challenge the politically correct practice? Hyphenating is crucial to dividing Americans into various monolithic victimized voting groups.
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And yet, while claiming to desire unity, shameless politicians continue to divide us by playing the old and tattered race card. I cannot relate to a black, Hispanic or whoever agenda. We are all human beings desiring the best for our families, loved ones and country. Brothers and sisters – that is the true American agenda.
Permit me to expand on Lloyd's thoughts. Slavery is now nearly one and a half centuries behind us, and Jim Crow is nearly a half-century behind. Ascribing to hyphenations and rituals that have no basis, much less true association, in Africa (think Kwanzaa) in an attempt to claim a relationship with a so-called homeland that doesn't recognize us being part of their culture is nothing more than an attempt to deny and debase our true history and heritage as Americans.
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I'm very proud of my heritage. My heritage is that of Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, our medical innovations, our free market and our Constitution. The heritage of my family is to live in a country that had the good sense and decency to abolish slavery and Jim Crow.
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I refuse to be imprisoned on a new plantation of resentment and hatred toward whites. I refuse to allow myself to be divided from my culture and birthright as an American. Divisions based on color and hyphenated groups serves only those who make gain from same.
People will point to Dr. Laura Schlessinger and her use of the "N" word on a recent show as evidence of deep-seated racism. I argue that her only mistake was apologizing for what she said. The question that should have been asked was, why is it all right for black comics to mimic and mock whites, but it isn't all right for that to be pointed out? There is no plausible explanation that makes that double standard OK.
Today I'm called names much more vicious and hateful by blacks than I was ever called by a small handful of students in my high school, or by the man I worked for while in school. Those students were representative of an ignorant few, not every white in America.
I once refused to sell a prized automobile to a person because I neither cared for him nor thought he would take care of it as I had. I offered him no reason other than "I don't want to sell it to you." Did that make me a racist? Years ago I bought a very limited-production automobile from a young accountant who told me he had refused to sell it to two others before me because he wanted it to go to someone who would take care of it as he had. Was he a racist?
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The only people who truly benefit from playing the race card are those we see claiming to be defenders of race. Over the past couple of weeks, I have written that we are Americans. I'm not a minority; I'm an American – that makes me part of 300 million-plus others.
Obama, politicians, the Jesse Jacksons, Al Sharptons and those like them benefit from recognition and encouragement of a racial divide, but how has that benefited others? How have skewed and prejudiced race-based affirmative action programs helped those who weren't prepared or capable of succeeding in said programs? Would not the qualified have succeeded on their merit, or were people like Carter G. Woodson anomalies? What about the people who are unfairly refused admission due to the promotion of so-called diversity – are said programs fair to them? Or don't they count?
I have had bad things happen to me in my lifetime, and I've had difficult times that I would wish on no one – but I can tell you that none of those things were because I was black. Some were self-generated, but most were the realities of life.
Blacks will never be free, and politicians and race-hucksters will always profit, until blacks come to the realization that we are Americans first. Our heritage is an American heritage, and all that encompasses – warts, blemishes and all.
