Race and the Right

I've been a little surprised by the polarizing use of race in the Democratic primaries. I know that politics ain't bean bag, but there are certain things the Democrats stand for and represent that doesn't really include stoking racial prejudice. I've been particularly dismayed by the repeated use of the divisive language of race by the king and queen of the Political Correctness movement. However, none of that compares to the fearless use of race as already exhibited by the institutionalized Right of our politics.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently — following the stories of the N.C. "Too Extreme" ad and a Willie Horton-style ad — created by the folks who made that 1988 ad — also out of N.C. The former rehashes the also ran controversial sound bytes of the retired pastor of Trinity United in Chicago — addressed by one of the most famous and respected political speeches in memory, "A More Perfect Union". (Those sound bites now drowned out by the new loop of Rev. Wright in a suit and tie speaking with Bill Moyers, NAACP or the Nat. Press Club.) The latter full of outrageous bloody shirt writing and photography regarding a death penalty bill that Obama voted against in 2001 — left unsaid, the Republican governor at the time vetoed the bill for its broad reach and lack of specificity. Neither of these ads bothers too much with accuracy or timeliness or tastefulness. I suppose that they might hit their mark, but with whom?

The New York Times (NYT) editorial board said on Saturday today that the "Too Extreme" ad is nothing but "Manipulative. Shameful. Race-baiting." Very true. They cite an ad that Jesse Helms ran in a N.C. race that directly taps into the Right-wing hate for affirmative action, a passive aggressive attack on his African American opponent, Harvey Gantt. In both cases, the ads strongly suggest negative euphemisms for African Americans that sometimes resonate with voters: Reverse Racist and

The NYT ed. board might have also included the death penalty ad mentioned above. The more direct insinuation is that Barack Obama is a gang member because he opposed the same bill that his Republican governor even felt needed to be vetoed. Everyone should check barackobama.com for the facts on Obama's record on crime. What these two ads do implicitly if not explicitly is assigned some of the most disgusting racial stereotypes associated with African Americans in this country — reverse racist and gang member. Disgusting. And false.

Barack Obama has built up a lifetime of service to local, state and national communities — a real champion. He has headed a campaign that has been professional and better equipped to manage adversity and capitalize on opportunity than any of the other campaigns. Revisiting overplayed sound bites in an ad that smacks of racism, and wildly misrepresenting an old vote adds up to the shameful use of racial prejudice in the Presidential race. It's arguably a tactical decision for a Democrat to use race to divide voters since it's the primary season, but the GOP has no excuse using race to derail the democratic process before the Democratic nominee has been elected. The Right is setting up a lot of swords to throw themselves on.

Using race to divide voters at all is sad and shameful. As a final thought I'd like to offer up a recent example of the failure of racial insensitivity in local/national politics: George Allen of Virginia. His campaign against Sen. Jim Webb (D) barely hid it's racially divisive views and it failed. Happily this example is more recent than Jesse Helms' passive aggressive commercial that worked against his African American opponent and the Willie Horton ad that is credited with damaging Dukakis' run for the White House.