The Political Race and Friendships

For the last couple of weeks I've had a bit of a running conversation via e-mail with an old Air Force buddy about racism, especially concerning politics, and the Obama presidential campaign specifically. It has been exasperating to an extent because I allow him to get my goat, which puts me on the defensive, and that isn't, to say the least, the strategy that leads to positive persuasion.

I'll be honest, I enjoy debate, but I'm lousy at persuasive argument. I make a lousy sales person because I often forget the dictum, "always be closing," and meander around the showroom of ideas picking up shiny things and get momentarily and thus, fatally distracted.

Just because I enjoy something doesn't translate automatically into being very good at something, if it did, I'd be a great golfer and a world renowned movie critic. Enjoying the passion of defending a set of beliefs based on evidence and reason, doesn't mean you will become particularly good at it and nor does it mean that you will always be right. But I'm pretty darn sure racism is a bad thing and ought not be defended, but rather attacked at every turn.

Here's the crux of the matter, getting to the point that I've been sheepishly procrastinating about: Friendship isn't a debate society, it is about compromise, and the willingness to subsume some of your needs and desires for the benefit of your friendship. Friendship also means that you are obligated to speak up when a friend is being self-destructive. I believe, harboring animosity towards an entire race, creed, culture, etc, for the bad behavior of some of their members, is not only unfair and reprehensible, but utterly toxic to relationships of all kinds.

Only the truly twisted are proud to be called racists, hence the gymnastic linguistic genuflection of those who attempt to defend racist opinions in public. Some are so good at it that they have persuaded millions of people that modern day conservatism has or had nothing to do with wanting to keep "whitey on top," but rather it is about defending society against those (the other) who would tear it asunder should they wrest the controls away from them. Sound familiar? It should.

Before anyone mentions it, I realize the Democratic party was largely against civil rights with the exception of north eastern liberals in the 50's and 60's, and LBJ admitted that the Democratic Party lost the south for a generation when he threw in with the liberals of both parties and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

That was when the exodus from the Democratic Party of the Dixiecrats in the south to the Republican Party began in earnest. Need I remind you of Nixon's now infamous "Southern Strategy," executed during a tumultuous time when America was involved in an unpopular war? Sounds eerily familiar doesn't it? You betcha it does.

"Hi Sarah!" An aside: The fear shtick coming from a know-nothing spokes-model just adds to the surreal nature of this history trying to repeat itself.

They now have to use coded language rather than use the language of division and fear they intend because society has driven that speech underground... sometimes it is so plainly obvious that has to be seen and heard with one's own eyes and ears.

Now of course, the defense will be, these idiots are just a small percentage of the overall population and are not representative of all white people, and that I'm being racist myself and a hypocrite; we've all heard that smear so many times that I need not belabor the point. And because John McCain's Denver rally was utterly dwarfed by Barack Obama's today, that it diminishes my argument. But again, let be clear at risk of repeating myself:

I'm not saying all whites are racists am I? I mean 100,000+ people didn't go to the Obama rally to gawk at him, they are his supporters, in the same state that coughed up the cavalcade of dumbassedry above.

The question becomes, for me anyway, whose side do you want to be on? I know that isn't fair politics, but it is fair to ask of a friend. Asking whether he sees my point of view at least when it comes to the debate about which party is trying to bury the hatred and toxic racism of the past. It is fair to ask which party is reanimating that corpse with the lightening of hatred and fear.

Barack Obama isn't leading in the polls so far because he is perfect, or he's the Messiah, he is leading because of what he is not, a demagogic fear-mongerer. He does represent in many voter's minds the symbolism of moving beyond that type of politics. Frankly I am more than mildly surprised and pleased to see that the politics of fear and race-baiting are producing rapidly diminishing returns. Now I'm not so naive as to believe that the politics of fear and racism will somehow be swept from the planet if Obama wins, but it is nice to see Americans not being persuaded again with the high tech equivalents of the Willie Horton ad.