Making It In America

Across the country Americans are touting the win of Barack Obama as a major victory in the war against racism.  While it is a victory that would not have happened years ago, it is not the victory people claim!

Let’s look at what has happened.  The secret service began protecting months before any presidential candidate in the past.  Since his election, the guard around Obama is greater than any past president-elect because they worry about racially motivated attacks.  As for the inaugeration, ABC ran a quote by Secret Service spokesman Malcom Wiley.  He said, “The fact that this is an African American is not lost on us. We understand that this is a historic event; we understand that this is different from other inaugurations. It is one additional piece that we factor into the plan.”

Then we look at the empty seat the former senator leaves behind.  The question is, “Should the seat be filled with race as the major qualification?”  First Bobby Rush said the seat had to go to a black man because there were no black senators in the Senate with Obama’s election.  Then the disgraced Blagojevich nominated former Attorney General Roland Burris. Many question the choice based on the governor, not the electee. Now Bobby Rush is back to challenge them not to approve the nomination saying, “There are no African-Americans in the Senate, and I don’t think that anyone, any U.S. Senator who is sitting right now would want to go on record to deny one African-American from being seated in the U.S. Senate. I don’t think they want to go on record doing that.”  I don’t know the record of Mr. Burris, but he should be approved or not based on his qualifications, not his race.

Then, of course, there in the song, “Obama, the Magic Negro”, showing up on a CD distributed by Chip Saltsman.  This same man is hoping to gain the role of chairman for the Republican National Convention.  I’m sorry, but bad taste and poor judgment should eliminate him from the process.  Who things of songs like this?  In our new and open-minded nation, we still have a long way to go to truly rid ourselves of the plague of racism.