Race and The Race
THE MIDDAY SHOW
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Wednesday, October 22
Noon-1:00 pm
The presidential candidacy of Senator Barack Obama has, inevitably, prompted discussions on the issue of race in American politics and culture. Conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh says Colin Powell, the former U.S. secretary of state, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman and national security adviser, endorsed Obama simply because he is black. Powell dismisses that assertion and gives numerous other reasons for his endorsement. But will race be a factor in the November election, or is the nation finally moving past that consideration? We'll have a talk about how it factors into the election with one of the most eloquent and thoughtful men we know, the Rev. Frank M. Reid III, pastor of Bethel AME Church in Baltimore. We'll also talk about the church's attitude toward the slot machine gambling proposal in Maryland.
Related to this is the next photograph. It's an "after photo." I'd show you the "before" photo, but it contains one of the worst words in human language and I avoid using it. Let's just say that, on a road in Harford County two weeks ago, someone spray-painted a racist statement against Barack Obama, in front of a home with an Obama lawn sign. This was near recreation fields in Fallston, Maryland. The man who sent me this photo lives near there and listens regularly to Midday. He saw the racist grafitti, reported it to local law enforcement, then returned to the scene and used his own can of spray paint to doctor the words on the pavement. High-fives to him for doing so. He asked that neither his name nor his address be published here. "I was not going to let one more school bus go by this sad display of ignorant hate," he explained. "So, with the permission of the sheriff's office, I fixed it with a little spray paint. I used someone's ignorant hate speech to say something better. Like Obama said at a recent rally about character attacks on McCain: 'We don't need that.'"
Comments
Like Obama's responses regarding William Ayers and Reverand Wright were either knowingly false or just another CLEAR example of how Naive the Senator is, or how Naive the Senator thinks we are,
Collin Powell's unprecedented GOP endorsement of a Democrat at this extremely late stage in the election cannot be seen as anything other than due to race.
Both lost my trust during this campaign and I look forward to Barack losing so we can get Hillary or Condoleezza Rice in the office for 2012.
Posted by: Brian McNally | October 22, 2008 11:26 AM
Let's hope the churches are pushing back against the slots proposal. I know too many fellow church folks in a Republican-leanging district who were for slots when the Republicans were pushing them and are now against them because the Democrats are pushing for them. To me it is a moral issue, nevermind any of the studies that show Marylanders would hardly benefit, if at all.
The church also needs to stand up to and speak out against the implied and overt racism on display in this campaign. Do I think racism will decide the election? No. The five- or ten-percent of Americans who are overtly racist probably wouldn't be voting for a Democrat no matter their skin color. Still, the other ninety-percent of Americans, including McCain and Palin, have a moral obligation to stand up to the ignorant few and to stop any implied racism from rearing its ugly head.
Posted by: Dave McLaughlin | October 22, 2008 11:56 AM