Racist? Why Not Multicultural?

When I read that a school principal in Oregon said that eating or even talking about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich could be considered racist, I began to wrack my brain. What about this staple from my childhood and still a quick go to favorite have about it that's racial?

Is it racial if you use white bread?  Maybe because the white bread is encompassing the brown peanut butter and the red jelly?  What about where the pb and j are combined in  nice even stripes in one jar?  What does that do to the equation?  Besides, not all jelly is red.  Some is yellow or orange or purple.  How is that racist?  Especially the purple?

Then I thought that it's really more of a symbol of multiculturalism.  White and red or yellow or orange along with the brown all together, combining to make one beautiful and tasty repast representing a multitude of races.

Then I read on.  It isn't about the peanut butter and jelly at all.  It's about the bread and the name we've given the concoction.  A - sandwich!

This, according to the powers that be is indicative of our exercising our "white privilege".  I didn't even know there was such a thing.  But, for those poor souls coming from other cultures who do not have sandwiches as such don't seem to perform as well.  They have pitas or maybe wraps or tortas or some such.  This supposedly makes them feel inferior?  This particular school has what they call Courageous Conversations, an examination of news items to see what racist "white privilege" is displayed.  This to fulfill a mandate to improve the education particularly of black and brown boys.

First it was a war on words that are considered racist - like squaw and Redskins.  Then came the war on books which exposed the youngsters to things they already knew but their parents didn't know they knew.  Now it's words of common usage regarding the food we eat.  No wonder they don't learn anything practical in school.  The teachers are too busy trying to unteach them.  Forget it.  There's this thing called the Internet.  Kids can find out about anything their little hearts desire.

Me?  Well, I am finally going to quit fighting the obvious.  I spend a lot of time criticizing the policies of our President and his administration and am considered a racist because of it. Oprah says so.  Al Sharpton says so.  So many say so I'm tired of denying it.

 This is just the final nail in my coffin.  I am  a racist.  That's a "White Privilege" word too isn't it?  If you think about it.  But the real reason is because I do eat sandwiches.  Besides pb and j's, I love BLTs and French dips and Ruebens.  I also love tacos and gyros and egg rolls.  They are all sandwiches of a sort aren't they?  Maybe I'll be okay if I quit thinking that way and see the error of my ways.

No, on second thought,  I'm going to give up.  A sandwich by any other name is still a sandwich.  If that makes me a bona fide racist, so be it.

Race, The Fear Factor And Politics

Race equates fear.  Even our President seems to be willing to promote this philosophy.  How a son of his would look like Treyvon.  They'd look like the three that recently killed a young baseball player and the two that beat to death an 87 year old sitting in his car too. It's the wrong comparison, Mr. President, for I doubt if you had a son they'd behave that way because they would have been taught better.

Just for the heck of it I'm going to explain who I fear and why.  The President says he experienced women holding on to their purses more tightly when he or others like him approached.  It was the 'black experience'. I'd do the same but it would depend on their dress and demeanor, not their color.

But you see, it's not just blacks.  I cringe when I see a bunch of white kids using foul language, dressed like nothing that should be allowed in a decent place of business and hogging the sidewalk or whatever.  It's the dress and demeanor.  They take pleasure in intimidating.

I've lived in both Texas and southern California where Hispanics actually dominated in some areas.  They never gave me pause because they weren't known for criminal behavior and didn't appear threatening. They were industrious, hard workers.

It's pretty much the same with Orientals.  I think of them more as achievers than anything else.  They don't appear threatening, even in groups.

On the other hand, there was a time  I'd not have given a thought to people of obvious middle eastern heritage.  Today I find myself tending to steer clear.  It's because of how they are now perceived, justified or not.

It's an issue of which I'm now keenly aware because we're inundated with it thanks to the media.  When terrorism is emanating from those middle easterners and you hear about it enough it affects you.  When the crimes that get the most publicity are crimes committed by blacks against whites and you hear about it enough it instills caution if not fear.

I have never been witness to an administration that made more of a point of race than this one and then calls foul when it's pointed out.  Instead we should be looking at the crimes and what inspires young men to kill for a thrill or $50.  Of course we know what a lot of it is.  The old cliche, the breakdown of the family.

I might add that it's also too much welfare.  The more kids, the more money.  The father is necessary only to create the kid. It's an evil, ugly, vicious cycle with no easy fix. We're creating a society of dependency. We did it with the native Americans, we're doing it with the poor blacks.  Meanwhile, those of a different skin color who are industrious are moving up and in and will one day dominate our society and we will be relegated to the status of the failed.  All because our leaders blame all the wrong reasons for why our society and civility is deteriorating. They go for the feel good fixes rather than those of substance.  Substance requires effort from all sides. It's work and it isn't easy.  But the fix would be a real one.  If only...

If the politicians feel the policies of this President are bad for the country it's time for them to say so rather than quaking in their boots in fear of being called a racist.  It's time for them to understand it's those who call them racist  who are the racists and move ahead.  He and his administration are the leaders of the whole country no matter the ethnicity.  To continually use it as a wedge is a disservice to the entire country and in the end it will be more than a footnote in his legacy. And it will be deserved.

What Exactly Is Sexual Harrassment These Days?

It seems to me the standards for sexual harassment are many and mixed.  We don't even know exactly what it is Herman Cain has done to raise such a hue and cry.  He made someone feel 'uncomfortable'.  What does that mean?

I think back to my younger days and how many guys I dated, or didn't, at whom I could aim such accusations by today's standards.  I guess because none of them ever came into the public eye I didn't bother.  I just avoided them. The thing that is bothersome is not knowing exactly what we're supposed to be so angry about.  Everything is skewed.  Plus it's his word against those who have lawyered themselves up.

I remember when the harassment movement first began.  A woman would walk past a construction site and if she were attractive she'd elicit wolf whistles and catcalls. That became politically incorrect so the guys would stand by silently, undressing her with their eyes.  They couldn't be sued for that.  If one is harassment isn't the other?

Granted we'd like our Presidential candidates to be a cut above but if you look deeply enough I doubt any of them would meet the pureness the media, for us, is demanding.  Why aren't they as tough on House and Senate candidates?  Where were these women when Cain ran for Senate?  Why did they give Kennedy a pass? And Clinton?  At least the women who claimed relations with Clinton came forward.

Considering the sexual mores in the world of athletics and entertainment and lower level politics, we certainly don't have a single standard.

Look at Hugh Grant.  Just yesterday I read he recently became a father for the first time.  You know him, the guy who got picked up in Hollywood a few years back for picking up a prostitute.  It seems a baby wasn't expected since he only had a 'fleeting' affair with the mother, but never-the-less he's delighted.

Then there is 17 year old Justin Bieber who is being accused of parenting a child with a nineteen year old.  He was sixteen at the time.  He claims he never met her.  She wants a paternity test.  If it proves true, she's in big trouble because she had sex with a minor!

I give credit to the people of Iowa who, if the reports are accurate, could care less about the harassment reports.  They feel Cain's 9-9-9 plan will help them.  At least they have their priorities straight.

Is it an issue of character?  Neither John McCain nor Newt Gingrich have treated their previous wives well yet neither have been pilloried about it during campaigns. Those actions are provable.

Is it race?  Or is it just plain dirty politics?

I haven't made up my mind about Mr. Cain.  My worry is whether or not we should place our trust in another rank amateur as President.  We have one in office now.  While I admire Mr. Cain's business accomplishments, his lack of political experience worries me.  The same criteria in reverse applies to many of the other candidates.

Whether I end up supporting him will depend on the balance of experience his experience and proposed policies versue everyone elses.  Not on hearsay and innuendo from invisible accusers hiding behind lawyers, all  looking for their fifteen minutes of fame ~ and a few dollars more.

Is Obama's Race Really To Blame?

Is racism going to rule the next presidential election?  I wonder, when House Assistant Democratic Leader, James Clyburn, who is black, still claims most of Obama's problems are because he' black.

I'm willing to accept that Mr. Clyburn is 70 years old and racism is part of his mind set.  What he grew up with.  What he's had to contend with.  But I dare say it is not the cause of Obama's problems.

I can say this with some basis because I am white and I voted for him.  I thought he was young and bright and like so many of us, failed to realize that he had too little experience in the world of politics.  His beliefs, which he kept pretty well under wraps, have been too liberal for my of our taste.


No, Mr. Clyburn.  Even with the birthers who for some reason desperately want to prove he was born in Kenya, are more concerned he's a closet Muslim than the fact he's half black.  It's not race.

As for the birth certificate issue?   McCain was asked to prove he was born in American territory and it was concluded that he was.

The chosen example of his face imposed on a chimpanzees body?  Actually, they did the same thing to Bush.

No, his problems are of his own making.  His dreadful lack of knowledge of protocol with foreign dignitaries and his apparent refusal to learn is the least of them. His past associations.  His missteps in foreign policy.  His "I won" attitude.  His unwillingness to work with the Republicans to force his own vision.

Yes, he won.  But he wasn't elected to change the country into his vision of it,  but  to better the peoples vision.

None has to do with racism.  I can only hope the advisers to the President in his upcoming campaign, don't think they can use race as their trump card.  It will set back all the progress, as imperfect as it may be, we've made, for generations.  A setback we as a country can ill afford and can so easily avoid by looking at the truth of the matter.  It is the man, his manner, his policies, or lack of them, that drive his poll numbers.  Not his race.

Being Black In America ~ Or Not So

I admit I missed the flap on the Huffington Post about Sammy Sosa appearing at a fund raiser shades lighter than he was remembered as a baseball player. A skin softening regimen he told those who questioned him.

Leonard Pitts wasn't buying it. Pitts, a columnist for the Miami Herald, is one of my favorites. He tells it like it is. He also minces no words about what it's like being black in America. In a column that appeared mid-November he took Sosa to task for having changed his skin tone. In fact he excoriated him for attempting to flee his heritage.

Letters afterwards took Pitts to task, excusing Sosa much the same way Michael Jackson was excused for the same action. To date Sosa hasn't had his features altered. I'm sure Mr. Pitts is wondering if that's far behind and if so will no doubt have much more to say.

In today's column he answers one of those letters and references the video below. It is as revealing as anything I have seen as to how far we have not come regarding how blacks feel about themselves.

Here we sit smug with the fact we've elected our first black President. He has an attractive wife and children. Blacks are well represented throughout his administration. How many of them, especially the women, have not paid some homage to white style. Especially with their hair. Listen to the young girls in the video. Be aware of the age range. Prepare to have your heart broken.

It could be said we have failed them but I think not. I think their own have failed them. Their lack of being comfortable in their own skin, with who they are, is distressing. What a way to grow up. Wanting to be something you cannot. Is it any different than a chubby youngster wanting to be, say, a ballerina while knowing deep inside it would never be? No. I think not. It goes much deeper.

How, at such a young age, does this happen? It isn't generational problem. It is a people's problem. That lack of self esteem runs so deep a child feels it from the elders who surround her. Some outgrow it. Don't they? I don't know. Michael Jackson didn't. Sammy Sosa perhaps didn't. How many others, who haven't gone to quite such lengths, didn't?

It gives race relations a new layer. New to me anyway. What will it take to teach children such as these that they can be anything to which they aspire, regardless of the color of their skin or the texture of their hair! Those shouldn't even be considered hurdles.

They have a very public role model now. The President of the United States. Perhaps that will help. One can certainly hope.

Some Prejudices Die Hard!

Basing his reason on observations, a Louisiana Justice of the Peace refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple. He claims not to be racist but rather he's concerned about the future of any children which might come from the union.

This in a town just shy of 18,000 in the latest census. How times are changing, and not. I can't help believe the gentleman truly believes what he says, no matter that he is breaking the law. In his life and his community he sees that mixed marriages tend not to last and that children tend to be shunned by both races.

I'm sure there are many pockets throughout the country where the same holds true. On a larger scale, however, interracial marriages are not so uncommon especially if you include other races in the equation. I have several friends who have had their children marry a different race. I have friends my age who have also, though it wasn't necessarily as easy for them as it is now.

This day and age I'm thinking the success of an interracial marriage has more to do with the man and woman involved far more than race. As for the children, well, that should come down to parenting. How the issue is handled within the family will prepare the child for life outside it. It should not come from the suppositions of a Justice of the Peace before children are even conceived, no matter how well meaning he may be.

Perhaps calls for his resignation should be heeded. The couple received their license from another Justice of the Peace in the same parish three days later.

When I think of interracial couples who are role models perhaps one should look at former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen and his wife Janet.

As for the offspring of a mixed race couple, well I can think of one where the Grandparents accepted the challenge after the death of his mother. The marriage didn't last, but the boy was not shunned by family even though he bears the racial characteristics of his father more than those of his mother. All things considered, Barack Obama has done pretty well for himself.

Race Is Not The Major Factor

Well, here I am. Until I find the pacifist within, I'll continue offering my thoughts regardless of tone - except for a lack of civility. Today I'm thinking about the issue of the President's race. Never, in recent years, has race been waved as the prevalent cause for discontent as it is now. The interesting thing is, it's white politicians doing it.

While racism is alive and well in this country, I don't believe that the recent groundswell against health care reform is caused by it. It's caused by poorly articulated plans and ideas by a one sided Congress trying to capitalize on every moment they have in power whether it's good for the people or not.

Add to that the fact that Obama is not in control of much of anything. No leader in the world is afraid of him. They've seen that he's more of a pacifier than a leader regardless of his vow to "change the world". That in of itself may have a lot to do with it. The rest of the world may not want to be changed. Especially after watching our President trying to change our country into his vision of what it should be rather than what the Constitution, which he swore to uphold, has laid out. Combine that with the people saying "just wait a minute" and even some in his own party getting in sync with the people.

No. It's not race. It's an overly ambitious agenda poorly thought through and being shoved down our throats by Chicago style politics.

Netanyahu has thumbed his nose at us. George Mitchell, Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, came home empty handed from the latest Palestinian Israeli peace talks. Iran is still fomenting hatred of the Israelis and Israel is ramping up it's anti-nuclear rhetoric against Iran. Asian leaders are flexing their muscles. Russia got it's wish for the departure of our missal shields yet they continue to refuse deeper sanctions against Iran.

Our foreign policy is weak. Is it a lack of respect? To be polite. Or is it those with ambitions contrary to ours know they have little to fear from the U.S. because of inexperienced leadership facing turmoil at home?

Nope. It is not predominantly race that have the people ranting against Obama. It's his policies. It's his attempts to destroy what has made America great with intrusive government intervention well beyond where needed. It's blind ambition on the part of some and tone deafness on the part of others. It's inexperience trying to masquerade behind flowery rhetoric.

The only thing black here is my mood and the future of this country if things continue the way they are at the pace they are. Do one thing at a time, do it well, then move on. An unheard of maxim in this administration.

In all that I wrote, whether you agree with it or not, there is no mention of race. Nor should there be. It's just not a factor.

We Should Not Forget Racism Flows Both Ways

Usually I would have commented on an incident like this and moved on. Now, it would seem, Henry Gates himself says it's time to move on .

The turn around came so fast it made my head spin. I know Obama can be persuasive, but still...

Did he have an ulterior motive when he stated plans to use the incident to improve fairness in the criminal justice system? He continued to say, "in the end this is not about me at all."

I'm not so sure.

We know he had consulted his legal team and was considering a lawsuit. I present a rationale for reading articles to their conclusion. It would seem he vowed to make an documentary on his arrest to "tie into a larger project on racial profiling."

Did he see opportunity here and exploit it?

I am fully aware racial tension still exists in this country and no amount of denial will make it go away. Just like the neo-Nazi's still have a presence in northern Idaho even if we prefer to think they have been eradicated. They have not and on occasion remind us of just that. Such seems to be the case of Professor Gates use of an arrest to further his own agenda.

Two things you might find of interest. One is a website he oversees, The Root. The other is the narrative on the arrest report. Click on the image to enlarge it or follow the link.

While I understand many prominent blacks defending Professor Gates, it would appear that he may be equally culpable in the escalation of this incident as a few unwise words from the President. We should also understand that racism is not a one way street.

Yes. Racism is alive and well. We do not need people of prominence making an issue of it when it's questionable there is an issue to be made.

As for police behavior, Professor Gates should be glad he is in Cambridge rather than Spokane. He'd likely have been tasered or worse and if a lawsuit had been filed the police would probably been found guilty of - nothing. It would not have mattered what his race happened to be.

Neighborhood "Watch Out!"

I'm sorry Mr. President, but you were the one acting "stupidly" after first admitting you weren't present and didn't have all the facts regarding the arrest of you're friend, Henry Gates, then claiming the police acted stupidly. That, in of itself, was a display of bad judgement on your part. The fire storm it kindled is much worse.

First, this is how I see it had it been my own circumstance. If a neighbor noticed anything untoward on my property, I would want them to call the police. I would want the police to respond in a timely manner and approach the intruder with caution - especially if I was the one being mistaken as such!

If asked for identification, I would gladly show it. I would not mouth off to the officer no matter what color he/she was. Nor if it were a black officer, or Hispanic, or Asian would I think him/her racist if I did mouth off and was arrested because of my conduct.

But that's me. I'm not a high falutin Harvard professor with a chip on my shoulder and an over estimation of my recognizability!

That's where it should have stopped. Obama didn't have his teleprompters handy and ended up with his foot in his mouth. Gates mouthed off and got arrested for it. End of story.

I wish. What began with a good deed turned sour by bad behavior has been blown into a full scale racial incident. I am so disgusted with the news coverage of this. Since it's been on the news 24/7 since it happened it's impossible to escape. Why is the media trying so hard to make it into something it wasn't? Anchors are pushing the racial profiling angle. I haven't seen Jesse Jackson yet. That may be an issue of timing on my part, but the oh, so solemn Al Sharpton is weighing in anywhere he can.

Police officers from around the country are being interviewed. Black police officers. They have, to a man, supported the officer involved, yet I've heard more than one anchor state, in effect,"Oh well, he is a cop!"

We are never going to conquer racism or even control it if every time a white officer arrests a badly behaving black or vice versa.

Obama should either apologize to the officer for an inappropriate comment or just shut up. Defending his comment is just fomenting the controversy. I'd not like to think it is by design but if this continues to simmer with the President, or his spokespeople, in the middle of it I will do more than begin to wonder.

Sowing the Seeds of Hatred

I am so disgusted as I write this I'm having to reign in my anger. The photo is of a section of land not too far south of Coeur d'Alene. It is filled with gently rolling hills coupled with forest land and farm fields. It is here, at the cross roads, a developer wants to build 141 storage units on ten acres. It would require a conditional use permit because the area is rural.

Area residents turned out in significant numbers when the County Commissioners held a hearing. They were against the project. Why? According to The Mica Kidd Island Property Owners Association the facility was opposed because they didn't want a precedent set for possible commercial sprawl, it would infringe on the visual tone of the community, create traffic hazards and would be incompatible with the historical atmosphere of century old farms, barns and Grange Hall. Among others.

The argument that the facility would have a barn like appearance to fit in with it's surroundings and there was a need for boat storage in the area was not enough to outweigh the objections of the area residents. The Commissioners, in my opinion, to their credit, turned it down.

Sounds like run of the mill procedure doesn't it? Right. Wrong. Today, the Coeur d'Alene Press headlined the fact that the developer, one Haitham Joudeh, has filed a discrimination suit against the commissioners and the Mica Kidd Island Fire District claiming religious and racial discrimination.

Please. This is the most preposterous allegation imaginable. I really don't believe the area residents nor the commissioners care one iota that the man is of Middle Eastern descent nor that he follows the Islamic faith. I doubt anyone gave it a thought until this came up!

I do not know if the claim that Grange members and the Fire District held an anti-Joudeh rally or not. If they did I should like to think it was to drum up support for denying his project and had nothing to with him as an individual.

We live in an area where the vestiges of the neo-Nazi's still haunt us. I find it highly unlikely that the Commissioners would partake in any action that even smacked of that kind of racial discord.

Steve Tucker, a Spokane attorney who would do well to stay in his own state and city, tells us Mr. Joudeh was born in Idaho and graduated from the University of Idaho. If true, he well knows the attitudes in this town about that kind of simmering suggestiveness and he should be ashamed of himself.

A $25 million lawsuit this day and age, in a community of this size where the majority of the wealthy only vacation here and the less then privileged well outweigh the privileged, is a slap in our collective faces in the name of prejudice of the worst kind.

I could be wrong in my assumptions. I have only the news report and the comments from the Owners Association web site to draw from, but I just can't get my head around malacious intent of such intensity. I should think Mr. Joudeh might want to consider moving on. I doubt he'll be welcome around here and it will have nothing to with his race nor faith except for the way he's using them to drive a wedge.

Maybe Spokane would welcome him. They have a higher level of tolerance. They have Steve Tucker.

Has The "Politics Of Fear" Won?

A Detroit born anesthesiologist, a lawyer and their families including three boys ages 7, 4 and 2 were removed from an Air Tran flight headed for Orlando and not allowed to re-board. They are Muslims.

The TSA and Homeland Security has succeeded in impregnating fear into our psyches to the point where idle conversation between strangers boils it to the surface. Even if you aren't Muslim you are stripped of your privacy every time you take a flight. Talking among yourselves even puts you at risk. No jokes in the security lines. If you're Muslim, it's best not to talk at all!

What's most egregious about this incident isn't that it happened, but the fact that having been cleared by the FBI before the flight departed, they were not permitted back on the plane. The pilot was uncomfortable. Obviously some of the passengers were uncomfortable.

Okay. They were discussing which part of the plane was considered the safest in which to sit; one commented about how close other planes were to theirs. They were Muslim. Immediately suspect.

But consider this. They had been able to purchase tickets, get boarding passes, no name on the "no fly" list, and both their luggage and themselves had been thoroughly screened.

What have we done? I thought we had finally succeeded in putting unwarranted prejudice and fear behind us as we are about to inaugurate our first African American President. I think, perhaps, all we've done is replace one people with another.

Loose Lips And Fact Free

I'm tired of looking at pictures of Sarah Palin so when I saw this I thought it made a good metaphor. Old Navy man John McCain being the ship. Hahahahaaaa.

Yep. It's all beginning to get to me. I read Bill Crystal's pander to Palin in the New York Times and thought there she goes again!

Crystal was having a little chat with Sarah discussing among other things Obama's associations with Reverend Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers. Now, we knew Wright was going to be resurrected didn't we? Specifically he wanted to know if Wright wasn't in fact the bigger issue because of Obama's closer connection with him.

She had this to say:

"To tell you the truth, Bill, I don’t know why that association isn’t discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country, and to have sat in the pews for 20 years and listened to that — with, I don’t know, a sense of condoning it, I guess, because he didn’t get up and leave — to me, that does say something about character..."

Discussed more? Where were you during the primaries, honey? It was beaten to death and then some!

First, it was explained, ad nauseam, that Reverand Wright did not spend every single sermon lambasting America. And, by checking the dates of the offensive sermons against Obama's schedule found his claims that he was not present to be true.

Oh, I'm getting so weary of Ms. Palin playing catch up and in so doing not doing her homework. Attacking Obama's character can be treading on thin ice. There is the Keating Five issue with McCain now getting some play; there is his Brazilian hottie and the treatment of his first wife that are all ripe for exploitation.

As for Palin, it's out there honey - your alleged affair with your husband's one time business partner not to mention hubby's involvement with a secessionist group. If seceding from the United States isn't anti-American I don't know what is!

Oh yeah, it's all out there. The bloggers have been having a field day with it. The main stream press is beginning to pick it up. But don't blame them for gottcha journalism.

Gottcha!

When Stereotypes Reign We've Got Worries

Truth will out. First Obama wasn't black enough for the black community and now, as I've long suspected, he isn't white enough for the white community. In other words racism still has a stranglehold on the American public.

An AP poll bears this out. In search of why the Presidential race is closer than it should be and if there is indeed latent racism among the voters, these words were tested regarding blacks. Boastful - 22% agreed, violent - 20%, lazy -13 %, irresponsible -11%. Those percentages may not seem high but lumped together with the one quarter of white Democrats who stated, "if only blacks would try harder, they could be just as well off as whites," it does not bode well.

I find a couple of things of interest here. The fact that the thousands of Black Americans who have achieved great success remain under the radar. And the fact that none of the above test words in any way begin to describe Obama, the individual. Until we as a people can get beyond this, all people of color, any color, will continue to wage an uphill battle. The squeaky wheels like Josh Howard of the Mavericks will continue to get the spot light while the exceptionally able like Barack Obama will continue to struggle. It is not an indication that we as a people are making much progress in over coming our prejudices.

The second point that interests me is how this applies to gender. Hillary Clinton broke through so many of those stereotypical barriers in her quest for the nomination, the pendulum named gender has swung the opposite direction. Her success opened the door for a woman who is minimally qualified for the office she has been offered the opportunity to attain.

I conclude from this that had Hillary been the Black, she'd have not even been in the race and had Obama been white it would be all over but the shouting.

What a sorry state of affairs this is!

There are Mavericks And Then Some

If I were John McCain and/or Sarah Palin I might not want to be bragging about their status as mavericks right at the moment.

Okay, that may be a stretch, but when I saw the Washington Post story on Josh Howard of the Dallas Mavericks, the term definitely caught my eye. Already an NBA problem child, this dissing the national anthem because he's black is now all over You Tube.

I have little good to say about these over paid, under educated man/boys who because of athletic prowess get way too much way too soon. They are a rather repugnant combination of arrogant and petulant. Brett Farve's recent bout with the Green Bay Packers comes immediately to mind.

What bothers me about the Howard story is that team owner Mark Cuban has sluffed it off as just another unsavory incident by one of his problem children. How disgusting. I'm sorry. Mr. Cuban's attitude, along with the almighty dollar, is a huge part of the problem.

And what a slap in the face of the Barack Obama's of the world. You don't suppose Howard and his ilk are part of the reason there is still a bit of racism hovering over this election, do you? Here is a graduate of Wake Forest who can't seem to stay out of trouble with the law. He is a professional basketball player. His 2008 salary is $9,500, 000. He is a disgrace to his race and his profession.

Oh, in case you can't quite understand the video, this is what he said: "The Star Spangled Banner is going on right now. I don't even celebrate that (expletive). I'm black."

I doubt he has it in him to realize what a pathetic example of a man he is. He is a Black American, college educated and rich beyond the wildest dreams of most of us. He owes us an apology. And you know what? He especially ought to apologize to Barack Obama.

Preconceived Notions Versus Inner Honesty

Awhile back I participated on a panel about blogging; I wore a pant suit and a lapel pin on my jacket. What does it tell you about me? Absolutely nothing.

It is a lapel pin, never-the-less. Does it mean that I am less than patriotic because it is not a flag? Or that I wish I was Swiss because it's a Saint Bernard? No.

Does it matter that my maiden name is German? Does that make me, or my father, a Nazi sympathizer? Does it mean I'm not one of "us"? Of course not.

Does the fact that I am in my mid sixties, white and female make me an automatic supporter of Hillary? No again.

So why do I find an AP story headlined Racial attitudes pose a challenge for Obama so troublesome? Because not so latent racism is still out there lurking too close to the surface for comfort. It is an issue to be addressed, but more so by ourselves than by Obama.

When voters say things like "A black man is never going to win Pennsylvania" or "His middle name bothers me a lot" and "He doesn't wear a flag pin", it seems disingenuous. Why isn't a black man ever going to win Pennsylvania? Give me a reason. A real reason. Prejudice.

Once upon a time we were the nation of immigrants; the great melting pot. Now others do it far better. We still hang onto our "me" mentality. Hillary had to have time to get used to the idea she wouldn't be the nominee. That's how the media framed it. It was all about her. In truth, it was not her mindset. She was still fighting for the nomination and probably is still trying to figure out how to pull it off.

We need to get outside of ourselves, our preconceived fears and our lame rationales. We need to judge our potential leaders on their actual strength of character and ideas rather than our imaginings of stereotypes. We do those who would serve, no matter their gender, religion or race, a disservice; we do ourselves a greater one. Great potential is being wasted.

If we can't get beyond what has bubbled to the surface during this primary season, the world will no longer watch with anticipation for the return of our greatness; they'll turn away, get on with their own business and leave us wondering why.