Friday, April 4, 2008

McCain: 'I Made a Mistake'

Say what you will about John McCain, but the man gained some respect for me today when I glanced at my television, which was tuned to CNN, and saw McCain standing in a Memphis rain shower at what used to be the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was gunned down.

I wondered if I'd had too much to drink last night.

You see, it's no secret that Republicans don't court the black vote, almost snubbing those black Americans who might share their ideals--a move that troubles me to no end, but that's a subject for another post.

To see McCain standing in what for him is hostile territory giving a speech and humbly admitting to a mistake was impressive and admirable.

If you don't know, over 20 years ago McCain voted against an MLK Holiday. Today he called this move a mistake, and his admission drew boos, rightfully so, from the crowd. One lady, though, can be heard saying "We forgive you." Another man can be heard saying, "We all make mistakes."

I commend John McCain for his candor. As I watched his speech, what I saw was not just a tense situation to which he was willing and brave enough to subject himself, but I also saw a manifestation King's dream.

I saw an attempt at reconciliation on the very day in which 40 years ago the most resounding voice that ever dared our nation to make good on its promise was silenced.

What is undoubtedly true is that racial tension is rooted in misunderstanding. Many whites don't understand blacks and their perspective, and many blacks don't understand whites and their perspective. To know this to be true, I need only look back to Rev. Wright's comments and the backlash that ensued and to what I saw McCain doing on television today and the boos I heard as he was doing it.

What is important, then, is that we do our part to move beyond racial impasse to understanding. And though that'll never be easy, that it is not will never mean that we shouldn't try which is just what King would want us to do.

Today, McCain tried.

Remember the Man, Live the Dream

Fourty years removed, I imagine that it is easy to take for granted, or maybe even forget, what it is that this man did not only for black America but for all of America.

I imagine that it is not easy to comprehend the ridicule, the difficulties, the plain hatred that he endured and the passion that, despite these things, wouldn't allow him to sit idly, that wouldn't deny him the wherewithal to first go against the grain and then to do it not violently, not angrily but peacefully.

King died fourty years ago today, but his dream lives on.

He was and is the greatest catalyst for social change that our nation, that our world has ever seen, and but for his being bold enough to stand for justice and but for his audacity to dream that dream, I, a black American, wouldn't be where I am today.

We must not forget, though, that King dreamed not in black, white and brown. Rather, King dreamed in red, white and blue.

And on his beliefs, his teachings, his words and his dream we, America, shall overcome.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Obama and Race


To me, the most interesting stats related to race and primaries:



Sunday, March 30, 2008

Solutions in Iraq


Given the recent outbreak of violence in Iraq, I think it is time the U.S. reevaluated its position and reduced its push to make a "full democracy" from the ashes of Iraq. The Bush administration seems bent on making Iraq a democracy in the mold of the U.S. However, I wonder if Bush or those close to him have ever opened a history book.


What many fail to realize is that before the federal form of government we enjoy today, the U.S. was governed by an "Articles of Confederation" where all states were equal and each State was entitled to one vote. Back in the day, citizens of New York would have been just as angry about being lumped together with South Carolinans as Shites are at being put together with Kurds and Sunnis. For awhile, we plodded along under the Articles of Confederation until we woke up and realized a system where one vote couold be a veto was senseless. We came together in Philadelphia and realized we had much more in common than we previously thought.


I propose we let Iraq follow the same path. Right now Iraqis identify with their regional association whether Kurd, Sunni, or Shite. If we let them form 3 states they would probably be happy. They could work together under a United Iraq much like we did under the Articles of Confederation. Given several years, I would bet that many of them would start to remember that they have more in common than they think they do right now.


We seek to impose a federal form of government on a nation that has little experience with such things. In doing, so we seem to have forgotten where we came from. We had to create a nation from the ground up much like Iraq is trying to do now. We formed a federal form of government after we realized that was the best thing. Even embodied in that document are the compromises of our forefathers. Slavery, although the scourge of the Constitution was a product of compromise. Same thing with the Senate and the House of Reps. We need to let Iraq work through their problems the same way we had to. The time has come to look at history and realize the struggle it takes to form a "more perfect Union."