For decades, America's liberal establishment has been saying that what we need more than anything is a frank conversation about race. Well, here's another chance.
Ever since the Kerner Commission in 1967, we've been hearing how Americans need to air out their racial views. After the L.A. riots, Hurricane Katrina and every other racially loaded event, we heard this refrain. President Clinton launched an official national conversation on race, but he clammed up once conservatives started talking frankly and winning the argument.
Leading a nation of cowards?
Attorney General Eric Holder used Black History Month to deliver a racial jeremiad, accusing America of being a "nation of cowards" for not talking more honestly about race.
And now we have Sonia Sotomayor. It's been reported that Obama's Supreme Court pick has long been his first choice for the court. This suggests that the president is well aware of her views and that she personifies his views of how the courts should dispense justice.
Which brings us to Sotomayor's now-infamous line that she would hope a wise Latina would make better decisions than a wise white man. In the same speech, she somewhat favorably considered the possibility that there are "physiological or cultural differences" between races or genders that make some people better at some things (like judging) than others.
What is the president's response? To lead a nation of cowards.
Was she taken out of context and careless in her use of words to La Raza ("The Race"), the group she spoke to?
Obama says he's sure Sotomayor would "restate" her views (which technically means she would repeat the same idea in different words). White House allies have carried this further, saying she "misspoke" (in the words of Democratic spinner Lanny Davis). The Washington Post reports her comments were "unscripted."
But this is flatly untrue. Sotomayor's comments were literally scripted -- for a lecture. She then published that speech in a law journal. It's apparent she meant what she said, and if a white judge ever said anything similar, his career would be over. And, as former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy notes, any typical citizen who said anything of the sort would be dismissed from a jury pool.
Unfortunately, Goldberg is white and does not have the freedom to say what Thomas Sowell does, so he hedges ...
It may go too far to call her a racist -- not necessarily because she doesn't fit the technical definition, but because she doesn't fit the popular, emotional definition of one. She's not an evil bigot, which is what the word "racist" colloquially suggests.
So maybe we can call her a "racialist."
And that frank discussion on race? Forgetaboutit.
Obama and the Democratic Party indisputably share the broad outlines of her approach to racial issues. But rather than calmly defend her, they hide behind the robes of the first Latina Supreme Court pick and shout "bigot" at anyone who fails to throw rose petals at her feet.
And that is pretty much what liberals always do when it comes to race. They invite everyone to a big, open-minded conversation, but the moment anyone disagrees with them, they shout "racist" and force the dissenters to figuratively don dunce caps and renounce their reactionary views. Then, when the furor dies down, they again offer up grave lamentations about the lack of "honest dialogue." It's a mixture of Kabuki dance and whack-a-mole.
An honest dialog lets everyone lay it all out on the table. All the grievances, all the experiences, all the hates that hide in dark corners of the mind.
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