“I find it curious,” says Hillary Rodham Clinton, when asked why some in the Democratic Party are urging her to call it quits. “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.” What I find curious about the reactions to Clinton’s comments is how no one has called her on slipping the race card on the table. After taking the better part of an hour to surf the web on this latest gaffe, I haven’t found one article that points out the obvious: That it's not important to worry about the well-being of a Black man running for President in a country that has serious race “issues,” to put it politely. The US has issues with Black leadership. Does anyone remember the fate of King, Malcolm or Evers? After all, Obama requested additional Secret Service protection, even before he officially declared his candidacy. This very scenario has been the focus of a whispered dialogue among numerous friends and associates. Everyone knows that the brother is at risk. Clinton just decided to take the conversation down a few levels and use it as political leverage.
This is not the rambling of some Obama fan that has drunk the Kool-aid. The reaction of the Obama campaign is almost as foul that as the comment itself. “Senator Clinton’s statement before the Argus Leader editorial board was unfortunate and has no place in this campaign.” This whatever-you-do-don’t-say-it’s-race strategy is just plain stupid. We saw it in action last week when the Washington Post published an article about the racism that Obama campaign volunteer face daily. Not only do you ignore the elephant in the room, you barely raise a brow when it dumps on your shoulder. How undignified is that?
How can you solve a problem that you never acknowledge? How can you claim to have a plan that attacks racial inequities in health, education and other issues if you are too busy using racism to promote your own cause or ducking it altogether? How curious.
