Letters to the Editor
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The third rail of race
Every time anybody related to Clinton mentions race, it's "touching the third rail", and it is interpreted by Obama supporters as being racist. When Obama mentions race, he is excused, because, after all, he is black and therefore he may touch that rail whenver he wants.
Ms. Walsh said here that we need to discuss race, then she said that we can't discuss it. Ferraro said that being black was an advantage for Obama, and she was dismissed as racist. Clinton says that Obama is not getting the support of white Americans, a statement that is demonstrably true, and she is compared to George Wallace, a man who made lies about race the foundation of his political career.
Kennedy as much as said that white people aren't voting for Obama because they aren't used to voting for a black person for President. Meanwhile, a number of people have endorsed Obama because they want "change", saying that they want to send a message to the world that the United States is "differetn" and Obama has asked black voter's to vote for him because of how they will feel when they watch him being sworn in. Obama's platforms offer no identifiable change. His politics are as old school as they get. So, what kind of change does Obama offer, besides being from a mixed race heritage?
It's beyond time that we had a frank discussion of race, and it should begin with an admission that race is not always a negative. Unless we are willing to acknowledge that, there can be no discussion, because we are starting the discussion with black people firmly in the "victim" category with no hope of acknowledging the progress this nation has made in race relations. Black people are not victims. They were, but they are no longer. Injustices happen to people of all races. So... let's talk, and please don't start out by calling me a racist. That says more about you than it does about me.