Reid, Blagojevich, Clinton Racist Remarks

Recently revealed racially charged comments by a number of Democratic politicians have raised the question, how prevalent is racism among the leaders of the Democratic Party? What does this say about what was once considered the post-racial era of Obama?

When it was learned that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had said, of Barack Obama, that he was a "light skinned African American" who "did not speak with a Negro accent" a curious lineup of defenders and critics showed up. Defending Harry Reid were luminaries like Al Sharpton and the members of the Black Congressional Caucus, ordinarily to be counted on to jump on a white politician use racially insensitive language. Calling Harry Reid to resign were people including Michael Steele, the African American chairman of the Republican National Committee, and a number of Republican Senators.

However it does not appear that Harry Reid is not the only Democratic politician who has been found out to have less than enlightened attitudes on race.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been quoted as saying that he is "blacker than Barack Obama", which apparently was meant to mean that Blagojevich grew up under poorer circumstances than President Obama did. Rod Blagojevich was later obliged to apologize for what he said.

Most curious, though, was what former President Bill Clinton told Teddy Kennedy when he was soliciting the late Senator's endorsement Hillary Clinton's Presidential run. Of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton said, "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee." Kennedy is said to have been so angry, that he decided to endorse Obama instead.

Bill Clinton's remarks are curious because former President Clinton has been characterized as so friendly with the black community that, at one time, he was actually called, "the first black President."

White Democrats making racially incendiary statements is not a new phenomenon, even in the modern post civil rights era. Senator Robert Byrd, himself a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, used the "N word" in an interview just a few years ago.

The revelations within just a couple of days of three prominent Democrats making what some consider racist remarks points to an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand, African Americans are so loyal to the Democratic Party that they vote for national Democratic candidates by nine to one margins. This seems to have set up a situation in which Democrats take the African American vote for granted.

Beneath the veneer of a Democratic Party as the political home of African Americans seems to be a kind of plantation mentality among the white leaders of the Democrats. It is a kind of condescension that is ill suited for the 21^st Century and astonishing during the administration of the first African American President of the United States.

Sources: Harry Reid "Forgiven" for Racially Charged Remarks, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, January 10, 2010

Ex-governor Blagojevich: 'I'm blacker than Barack Obama', Kristi Keck, CNN, January 11, 2010

Bill Clinton under fire for 'racist' slur belittling Barack Obama, Metro Reporter, January 11, 2010