OK, I admit it. I’m a white male. In today’s America, some would argue that I should be excluded from any meaningful discussion of race relations for that reason alone. James H. Cone, author of Black Theology & Black Power, wrote that “Black Power believes that blacks are not really human beings in white eyes.” I have brown eyes, but we all know what the good professor meant. “Racism,” Cone continued, “is so embedded in this country that it is hard to imagine that any white man can escape it.” Despite the ringing condemnation, I assert that not only am I not racist, I’m a lot less consumed with skin color than, say, Barack Obama, because I really don’t care what color he is, but Obama hardly lets a day pass without referencing his race.
I cite James Cone because he heavily influenced Barack Obama’s pastor of some 20 years, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Wright and his ilk are consumed with race, so much so that he and other adherents to Black Theology believe that even God thinks about nothing else. “Christianity,” wrote James Cone, “is not alien to Black Power; it is Black Power.” According to Cone and his followers, God is supremely concerned with the oppressed of this world, desiring through the work of Christ to set the captives free. In Cone’s theology, whites are evil oppressors, while blacks (and other downtrodden groups like Native Americans) enjoy God’s help and encouragement in casting off the chains of slavery. Cone would reject the Living God, indeed “kill Him,” if He wasn’t primarily the Savior of the poor. One needn’t be a Harvard alum to grasp the divisiveness of Black Theology.
The $64,000 question is, why does Barack play the race card so often? Is he, like his spiritual mentor and friend Jeremiah Wright, up to his eyeballs in Black Theology, viewing race as the world’s dominant theme? Perhaps, less threateningly, Obama is simply seizing on the low hanging fruit, believing that painting President Bush and Senator McCain as racists will find eager acceptance among his followers. Whatever the case, if Barack intends to harp on his race throughout the campaign and, if elected, into his presidency, he’ll be doing the country a great disservice and providing another excellent reason to vote for the other guy. Here’s why.
First, what Obama said about Bush and McCain is dead wrong, a vacant charge designed only to play on racial identity. “So what they’re [Bush and McCain] going to try to do is make you scared of me…’he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.’” The remark is very similar to what Obama said to the hordes of Germans in Tiergarten — “I know I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city” — and elicits the same response: So what? Why point out the obvious, except as a groveling attempt to garner support for a [supposedly] oppressed man? Worse, Bush and McCain have done no such thing. Each has studiously avoided any mention of race or color. Obama’s false accusation serves only to inflame racial passions, something America just doesn’t need.
Second, are we going to be subjected to a steady diet of racial politics from this self-styled “new politician?” Will every McCain campaign effort be met with cries of “They’re pummeling the black man!” Will every drop in the polls be laid at the feet of white Americans not ready to vote for a black president? If Obama becomes president, will every criticism of his policies or decisions be viewed through the prism of racial bias? If so, that’s reason enough to reject Obama. As Americans continue to struggle toward a color-neutral society, constant references to race and racial politics are counterproductive and damaging to that exalted goal. We don’t need, and I couldn’t stand, a president bent on reminding us of our differences rather than uniting us around the great banners of our commonality. We are all Americans. We all desire individual liberty and the opportunity to pursue happiness. A president has plenty of opportunities to bring Americans together, and a black president would be in a unique position to do so, but not by constantly harping on our differences and his color.
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Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Campaign 2008, Race Relations, Video