Politics and the New Racism
by Mary Shaw
www.OpEdNews.com
Upon Condoleezza Rice's nomination for US Secretary of State, I
wrote a number of articles questioning her fitness for the job,
given Dr. Rice's history of being less than forthcoming with the
truth regarding Iraq and other international affairs.
As expected, a deluge of e-mail promptly flooded my inbox, accusing
me of racism.
The very same thing had happened when I criticized the nomination of
torture czar Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General.
Then I was anti-Hispanic. Now I'm in cahoots with the Ku Klux Klan.
I am not the only one. Greater writers than I have been similarly
accused in the so-called "liberal media."
The ironic thing is that these same hardcore conservatives who
attack me for questioning the right-wing policies and practices of a
black woman or an Hispanic man are the same ones who have opposed
hate crimes legislation or supported racial profiling.
These are the same ones who tell me that blacks vote Democrat
because the Democrats provide them with easy welfare.
These are the same ones who support the death penalty, even though
studies have shown that the death penalty is applied in a
discriminatory and uneven manner, and is used disproportionately
against racial minorities.
And these are the same ones who suddenly realized that Donovan
McNabb is not a great quarterback after all, once Rush Limbaugh
explained to them that the media overrated the athlete because he
was black.
For some reason, they don't hesitate to play the race card in their
own defense.
These people are not stupid. Surely they must know that their
accusations of racism are unfounded.
Surely they must know that Condi Rice's lies are lies no matter
whether she is black, white, brown, yellow, or purple.
And surely they must know that Gonzales's torture memo was repugnant
regardless of his ethnic origins.
They are playing the race card because they cannot address the
criticisms of Rice and Gonzales on their own merits.
They cannot turn Condi's lies into truths.
They cannot rename the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing
entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."
They cannot make weapons of mass destruction magically appear in
Iraq.
And they cannot justify torture.
So they call me a racist. They make it personal. Ad hominem attacks
are the last refuge of those defending an untenable position.
When will the public see the light and start calling for some real
answers?
When will others follow Senator Barbara Boxer's lead and insist that
Dr. Rice explain her numerous self- contradictions, once and for
all?
When will they call for the Bush administration to oppose all forms
of torture and mistreatment of prisoners, not only in words but in
practice?
And when will my critics admit that it is possible to judge people
not by the color of their skin but the content of their character?
-----
Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist. Her views on
politics, human rights, and social justice issues have appeared in
numerous online forums and in newspapers and magazines worldwide.
E-mail
mary@maryshawonline.com .
Read more of Mary's writing in the archive:
http://www.opednews.com/archivesShawMary.htm
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