The Race Minefield

Yes, it will matter in the election.

by Stephen F. Hayes - March, 1st, 2008 - The Weekly Standard

In the speech that launched his meteoric rise in national politics, the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama called for a politics of hope, denounced "those who are preparing to divide us," and offered a direct challenge. "I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America--there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America--there's the United States of America."

It was a moving speech, filled with hopeful sentiments. But two years later, Senator Barack Obama, with two years' experience in the Senate and his eye on a presidential run, taped a radio ad attacking the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), going out of his way to defend racial preference policies that by their very definition divide Americans into blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians.

The original MCRI, relying heavily on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, read: "The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting." The language of Proposal 2, as it was identified on the ballot, was altered slightly to include the phrase "affirmative action." The effect was the same: Its passage would end the government's practice of categorizing and rewarding citizens on the basis of race.

Obama responded:
"This is Senator Barack Obama. And I'm asking you to vote no on Proposal 2. We've made great strides in our society towards fairness and opportunity for all people. But whether we like to admit it or not, there's still barriers to women and minorities reaching their full potential. Proposal 2 may sound like a reasonable way to move towards a Michigan that is blind to differences in sex and race but don't be fooled by the reassuring rhetoric. If the initiative becomes law it would wipe out programs that help women and minorities get a good education and jobs. It would hurt initiatives that help women and minorities build their own businesses. And it would eliminate efforts to help our children enter fields such as science, engineering, and mathematics. Proposal 2 closes these doors to many in Michigan and it moves us further away from a country of full opportunity. Proposal 2 is wrong for Michigan and it's wrong for America."

Race-neutral policies are "wrong for America"? A measure that echoes the 1964 Civil Rights Act is just "reassuring rhetoric"? The same campaign that paid for Obama's ad ran an ad comparing the end of racial preferences to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Barack Obama attends a church that is openly and blatantly racist, touting exclusive commitment to blacks. Obama blithely ignores the racism and insists it is not racist.

Barack Obama claims to support the Constitutional right to own a gun for self defense but argues that does not keep government from banning guns and criminalizing their owners.

Barack Obama argues that if you dare to think that race neutral laws should be the way our nation is governed you are harming our nation the way that 9/11 harmed it.

Barack Obama appears to be a racist. He hides his racism in carefully couched rhetoric. He denies he is a racist and insists that if you will not ignore his duplicity on some issues you are the one who is wrong.

The author calls this the "race minefield". If the MSM continues to insist we cannot be honest and call Obama on his positions, this election will become more blatantly racist than any election in recent history. I cannot help believing that it is not going to be good for our nation to have the first black President be a socialist like Jimmy Carter (which Obama is), who insists that if anyone opposes his economic policies they are racists. Socialism will fail as it always does and the attacks on Obama will get vicious as the economy goes down. To have a black President, the most powerful man in the world, defending special privileges for blacks on the argument that blacks cannot get fair treatment, will create the most bitter backlash this nation has experienced since the civil war.

Win or lose, Obama is going to damage race relations in this nation unless he stops his racist rhetoric. Obama wants it both ways. He wants to be perceived as not concerned with race while touting race preferential treatment. His constant duplicity will not be allowed to stand.