It has been two months since the United States, in self-declared historic fashion, elected its first Black President. President-Elect Obama was said to usher in a new post-racial era and everyone from Jesse Jackson to MSNBC heralded its arrival. Just this weekend on NBC's Meet the Press they had a show dedicated to what Obama's presidency will mean to black America. Unfortunately, we are already sliding right back into the era of victimhood just as dramatically.
The story that has captured the headlines as of late is of course the selection of Roland Burris as the junior senator from Illinois by Rod Blagojovich. Yet no sooner had Burris taken the stage during the announcement than the former Black Panther Bobby Rush stole the spotlight.
"My prayers have been answered. I prayed fervently that the governor would continue the legacy established by President-elect Obama and that the governor would appoint an African American to complete the term of President Obama. Let me just remind you, that there presently is no African American in the U.S. Senate. Let me remind you that the state of Illinois and the people in the state of Illinois in their collective wisdom have sent two African Americans to the U.S. Senate. That makes a difference."
Does anyone think Mr. Rush's star turn was a spontaneous outpouring of support? Or is it much more likely that Blago, knowing full-well the racial implications of nominating Burris, decided to punctuate his dare to Harry Ried and the Democratic caucus by having Rush blatantly state that the senate needs a black member. What happened to our newly enabled post-racial sensibilities? Apparently they were as ephemeral as an Obama speech. A good talking point, but not a fundamental change in reality. In fact the Burris debacle is not the only racially toned story to break in the past week.
A lesser know story has been developing in Massachusetts, where Bay State first lady Diane Patrick has complained about the Boston Herald’s coverage of her husband’s Cadillac upgrade as “racist” in Gwen Ifill’s new book, “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” She takes offense to the description of the Cadillac as “tricked out” during the DeVille debacle that engulfed her husband, Gov. Deval Patrick, during his first days in office. To give the comment some context this was during a time when the newly elected Governor, a good friend of the President-Elect, stirred up controversy when he switched his state car from a Crown Victoria to a Cadillac DTS and upgraded his office with $12,000 drapes and new sofas. Patrick had also hired a $72,000 chief of staff for his wife. The Boston Herald has responded saying that the term ‘tricked out’ is a synonym for decorated, and is over 100 years old with no racial connotation whatsoever.
What these two instances show is that it will take more than the election of the country's first black president to override generations of victimhood. Hopefully a step in the right direction has been taken, but the leftist media who declared a new day dawning in America may have over-stated their case just a tad.
Post sponsored by Quality-Resumes.
The story that has captured the headlines as of late is of course the selection of Roland Burris as the junior senator from Illinois by Rod Blagojovich. Yet no sooner had Burris taken the stage during the announcement than the former Black Panther Bobby Rush stole the spotlight.
"My prayers have been answered. I prayed fervently that the governor would continue the legacy established by President-elect Obama and that the governor would appoint an African American to complete the term of President Obama. Let me just remind you, that there presently is no African American in the U.S. Senate. Let me remind you that the state of Illinois and the people in the state of Illinois in their collective wisdom have sent two African Americans to the U.S. Senate. That makes a difference."
Does anyone think Mr. Rush's star turn was a spontaneous outpouring of support? Or is it much more likely that Blago, knowing full-well the racial implications of nominating Burris, decided to punctuate his dare to Harry Ried and the Democratic caucus by having Rush blatantly state that the senate needs a black member. What happened to our newly enabled post-racial sensibilities? Apparently they were as ephemeral as an Obama speech. A good talking point, but not a fundamental change in reality. In fact the Burris debacle is not the only racially toned story to break in the past week.
A lesser know story has been developing in Massachusetts, where Bay State first lady Diane Patrick has complained about the Boston Herald’s coverage of her husband’s Cadillac upgrade as “racist” in Gwen Ifill’s new book, “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” She takes offense to the description of the Cadillac as “tricked out” during the DeVille debacle that engulfed her husband, Gov. Deval Patrick, during his first days in office. To give the comment some context this was during a time when the newly elected Governor, a good friend of the President-Elect, stirred up controversy when he switched his state car from a Crown Victoria to a Cadillac DTS and upgraded his office with $12,000 drapes and new sofas. Patrick had also hired a $72,000 chief of staff for his wife. The Boston Herald has responded saying that the term ‘tricked out’ is a synonym for decorated, and is over 100 years old with no racial connotation whatsoever.
What these two instances show is that it will take more than the election of the country's first black president to override generations of victimhood. Hopefully a step in the right direction has been taken, but the leftist media who declared a new day dawning in America may have over-stated their case just a tad.
Post sponsored by Quality-Resumes.
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