So Howard Dean decided to
remediate his comments regarding the Stars & Bars, entreating all Americans to "stay at the table" for a probing discussion of race.
To be fair to the good Doctor, this primary race has scantly addressed issues of primary concern to minority voters. Of course the candidates have all amply genuflected at the altar of affirmative action. . .but some of my best contacts within communities of color here argue to me that affirmative action is simply a "threshold issue," not one that will earn a candidate enduring loyalty of minority voters. It's important not to be wrong on it, but you don't get an award for being right.
I am forced to conclude that the contest to date remains squarely focused on the concerns of whitey. Even Reverend Sharpton succumbs, making "infrastructure investment" a centerpiece of his economic agenda--a meat and potatoes appeal with much more currency among ethnic whites in Bay Ridge than among black and latino voters in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
But back to Governor Dean, the table, and the painful national discussion of race. When I read his remarks, both in the CNN piece above and another in the New York Times, I found myself scratching my head. Something was bugging me.
What is it that Governor Dean would have to say, should we all gather about the table for this painful discussion of race? As Rev. Sharpton pointedly (and correctly) argued, Dean does not have particularly progressive stands on certain issues of crucial importance to communities of color. They include, but are not limited to, drug policy and criminal justice reform, the death penalty, and gun violence. Not to mention the fact that he wraps himself up in "states' rights" on certain wedge issues--the pieces of the Democratic agenda he knows swing voters don't like.
So I want to ask all of you, what needs to be said when we circle around that table to talk about race? And is Howard Dean the man to facilitate that conversation?