I was fortunate enough to grow up in a Catholic family that believed in social justice. My family didn't just teach tolerance (the word is insulting if you think about it), they taught respect and interest in other cultural heritages.
And because I grew up in a Navy town where people came from every part of the world to be stationed there, AND this town was located near one of the most progressive cities in the U.S., I never saw racism until I was in college.
But, because of the unique perspective I did obtain over the years, perhaps I can offer some understanding for those folks not convinced that what is happening currently in the Democratic Party is bad. Very bad. Not just for Obama. Not just for Clinton. Not just for the Democrats. But for America.
My father grew up a farm boy in the Depression in Minnesota. He put himself through college by working for a mortuary. He would pick up bodies and deliver them to the mortuary. He got paid plus room and board. He had two roommates, both from Kenya. They were the first people of color he had ever seen. He had heard racial slurs before, and knew of racial stereotypes but his my grandfather believed character trumped all and being that they were devout Catholics, they believed that all of God's children were worthy of respect until they proved otherwise. My father and the Kenyans got along great and my father never learned to hate or fear or mistrust other people - at least not based on genetics.
I was adopted and we settled on Whidbey Island in Washington State. In the 70's the population was sparse on that island. Mostly Navy and Marines with some long time Dutch and Irish locals. The military personal were incredibly diverse culturally. But nobody cared about that. Stories of racial problems were stories on the news about the south or the east or Chicago or L.A. but not where we were. We didn't understand them. People who were from there but came to settle in the Seattle area did so because people were friendly. We, for the most part, walk the talk. It's not idillyc. But we were doing pretty good.
When I got to college at WSU, we were right next to the Idaho border. I recall having to help a Chinese friend get his car fixed because a mechanic wouldn't help him when his care broke down. And I remember a man, with dark skin and Iraqi decent hanging from a tree with bailing wire tying his hands behind his back at the University of Idaho, but the police ruling it a suicide.
I remember my friends, a little Jewish girl and a tall, very Arian looking dude, going to Hayden lake, Idaho to interview the Neo-Nazis. I remember them getting tailed home and intimidated.
I worked for Paul Tsongas in 1992. I did alot for him but Chicago was most instructive for me as it pertained to race.
There, I saw for the first time a city in which neighborhoods were divided by race. Over here, the Greeks. Over there, the black. Down south the Irish. And so on. That was an eye opener.
I remember Connecticutt being instructive as well. Yale. There was Yale. A beautiful campus with incredible architecture. Fairly affluent students. Then, right accross the street, total poverty. Black neighborhood primarily. Utter destitution and I'm thinking, how do these people not see that? How does it not kill them to see that?
In 1996, I was in Los Angeles. My fiance and I were pursuing show business. She got a film that shot primarily in Wilmington, NC. She was out there a few days and I got a call from her producer. He was on the edge of firing her. She was a bit of a head case. She was insecure and driving everyone nuts. Could I fly out and calm her down - they would pay for everything.
So I flew out there. On a Saturday, I asked one of the local crew about how far the movie theater was from our hotel. We were cool with walking but we just wanted to know how far and best route.
"Oh you don't want to walk."
"Why not?"
"Bad neighborhood."
"Bad neighborhood, how? I live in L.A. I've seen bad neighborhoods. Not much scares me."
"You'd have to go down (I can't remember what) street.
"That's where all the nigs live."
"Wh-wh-wh-excuse me-what?"
"That's where all the nigs live."
Yep. And this wasn't someone in their 60's or 50's or even 40's. This was someone in their 20's.
Of course we walked through the damn neighborhood and met some of the friendliest folk you could imagine.
But my point, and I know I took a long time getting to it, is this.
Racism is still alive and well in America.
And before you Clintonistas chime in with "Oh yeah, well so is sexism." Of course it is. Stipulated.
But, this diary is about racism. And how it HAS crept insidiously into our campaign in a way that I believe is incredibly damaging to all of us.
Look at how the polls have broken of late.
Obama loses 5 points. Clinton stays even. Edwards gains 6.
Looking deeper, Obama in SC is hemorraging WHITE voters to Edwards.
Because here is what is NOT being said.
When Obama sticks to his message of hope, stays above the fray, he's called uplifting, articulate, and a myriad of other positive adjectives.
Few focus on his actual policy proposals, despite the fact that he has at least as many has his chief rivals.
But, at that last debate, he fought back. Some people think he was disrespectful. Some think he tarnished his image (which was not created by him but the media and us in the first place).
He didn't stay in his place. He wasn't the polite, well spoken black candidate that some people almost forgot was black.
Instead, he took the bait. He let himself become the black candidate.
I, unlike some, do not accuse the Clintons of being racist. That charge is too simplistic.
What they did, with the talk of drugs, with the emails from low level staffers about his Muslim background, with the references to MLK and LBJ, and all the other nonsense was REMIND SOME VOTERS THAT IT IS THE PEOPLE THAT HAVEN'T STOPPED BEING RACIST or for that matter SEXIST.
I happen to think that in a subtle way, this is a part of her message. It is that we should face reality. This is who we are. Accept it. Grow up. We ARE racist. We ARE sexist. Her goal, and she has proposals for this and I believe she may be sincere is to regulate us out of some of it.
But Obama disagrees. He believes he can do so by example. He believes he can be a good or even great politician (senator or president) who HAPPENS to be black. What's the big deal? And until the last debate, he was doing that brilliantly. But, then he got pissed off and now people are judging him harshly for it. And perhaps it's a double standard is all I'm suggesting.
Am I blaming the Clintons entirely?
No.
I blame myself and every other Obama supporter for biting.
I blame the MSM for being too stupid and exploitive and reactionary and easily controlled.
I blame Obama and his campaign for letting the Clintons lead this story.
Plenty of blame to go around.
But blame is pointless. We need to stop it. We need to remember what Democrats SAY their goal is.
Social justice.
Economic justice.
Environmental justice.
And the second any candidate, mine or yours gets off of those we need to get them back on. We need to call the press out for doing the same. We need to stop ourselves and call out each other for the pettiness and get back to the issues.
Because lest we forget, this country is seriously f-ed up at the moment. It's going to take Democrats, Republicans and Independents rolling up their sleeves and working together to fix what ails us.
Fighting over he said, she said ain't going to get it done.
Peace.