The Race Thing is Getting so Old

It is getting so old. The whole race bit. From the idea that to dislike the policies of the current Administration is racist, to the claims of racism for wanting to protect our borders from folks who will come in and harass, kidnap and murder Americans. And I am sick and tired of it.

South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer is not racist. He is an idiot, in my humble opinion. He should never be Governor. He was not a good number two and his loyalty to his boss was suspect even before he "ratted" him out on his affair. Not a quality that is befitting a man who is asking you to trust him to work for you. (Not that the whole Sanford thing should have been kept hush-hush, just that its sleaky to "leak" information without coming out and being upfront about it.)

All that said, the mainstream media consistently harps on his words being racist. They will find any black caucus, or ex-black caucus, member to speak out against Bauer's "obvious" racism, and how "S.C. politicians often have found it useful to deflect voters' anger over a bad economy onto black people." (The State) His hiring of Chip Saltzman was seen as a racist move. On the contrary, it was a move by a desperate man, and, again in my humble opinion, it was also the move of someone who is an idiot.

So the media has their token GOP target man they are more than happy to play up whatever moronic thing he might come out with next. And twist it however they feel to spin it. Meanwhile, the top cop message of Henry McMaster, though getting more play due to his national stances on things like stimulus and immigration and health care, is still in the shadows of the newspaper and the webcasts. The job creation message of Gresham Barrett is collecting dust on the lower right corner of page 16. The transparency and responsibility message of Nikki Haley is kept to the small dining room events at the local Lizard's Thicket.

While the whole of the country continues to be obsessed with everything anti-policy as being about race, the local media is willing to hop on board that particular train to disparage the intelligence of the citizens of South Carolina. Instead of focusing on what the candidates have to say about what they will do if elected to the jobs they are running for, they are willing to continue to race-bait everyone of us and stir up division where none should exist.

Do I not think there is disparity in everything from jobs to housing to justice? Of course I do. But that disparity exists for more than just black people, or Latino people, or Asian people. It exist for anyone who falls into a category that someone doesn't like, or doesn't understand. The discrimination is against the single mother of four who is trying to get a job or food stamps or meeting with a teacher on parent-teacher night, if the person she is dealing with has no clue what her life is like and just makes assumptions. It exists for the person with cerebral palsy walking down the street and asking for directions by the person who is being stopped that has no frame of reference for dealing with someone who has any disability. It exists for the white guy taking school notes to a sick black friend by the people who can't understand what "his type" is doing in "their" neighborhood. Or the black guy who is visiting his friend in an upscale neighborhood by the people who can't see past the color of his skin.

Discrimination exists. But it doesn't stop with race. And it isn't quarantined to politicians or "angry white folk." It is heralded by a mainstream media that will do anything to keep in tight with an extremely left leaning Administration in order to maintain their good standings and not lose access (as this President has shown he is ready and willing to cut off access to those he doesn't like - Florida's Barbara West at Channel 9 News and FOX News, are prime examples). It is like the northern state based news outlet that finds the only missing toothed, greasy haired, overall wearing person in the crowd who, God bless him, only has a third grade education, to interview so that Yankees can feel secure in their opinion of southerners. To feel their superiority, if only because they are so filled with doubts about themselves.

Discrimination is not about other people, it is about the need to feel good about yourself. And media pandering to this selfish act does little to advance our city, our state, our country. Let's get the conversation off what divides us and put the focus back on what unites us. Jobs, security, the economy, education.

Sources

The State Newspaper
http://www.thestate.com/2010/05/05/1273102/bauers-focus-on-poor-makes-him.html