Honky!

Now, I have heard every motherhumping thing.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, a presidential candidate way back in 1984--and consumate race-baiter today--criticised Senator Barack Hussein Obama for "...acting like he's white."

Is that a bad thing? He's smart, he's employed, he's engaging, and he stands a better chance of getting the Democrat Party's nomination than the Reverend Jackson did 23 years ago.

Now, I thought that we had moved past the whole question of whether Senator Obama is "black enough." Really, what the hell does the Reverend Jackson want? Michael Vick? Is he black enough? What about Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice? Oops, wrong party, and we know that she is not black enough. Maybe P. Diddy? The Reverend Al Sharpton? Mike Tyson? Mumia Abu Jamal? Maya Angelou?

What the fuck does "black enough" even mean?

I don't ask if Senator Hillary Clinton is white enough. (I don't even ask if she is man enough. She is, by the way.)

President William Jefferson Clinton was the self-proclaimed "first black president." No one bitched about that claim. And, if he is the standard by which blackness is judged, then Senator Obama is most certainly black enough.

If we are to ever be a colour-blind society, we all (I'm talking to you, Reverend) need to stop this nonsense. The electorate of the United States is, in the main, not concerned with six juveniles in Jena, LA. Rather than claiming discrimination and prejudice, perhaps the Reverend Jackson should look at the root causes of situations such as that in Jena. Like joblessness, lack of education and literacy, and skyrocketing illegitimacy rates. Maybe he should applaud Senator Obama for coming so far.

Sure, curing these problems will be hard. It will take more than just some legislation and some pontificating; but, if the Reverend Jackson cares about blacks in America, he will use his bully pulpit to effect change, not to promote another generation of victims.

Point out the successes of black men and women--like Secretary of State Rice, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, actor Bill Cosby, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, and countless others--not the failures. Explain that each of these men and women got to where they were through hard work, education, and a strong sense that America is the greatest nation on earth, and that anyone can do anything they want, if they try.

When black children are held up to scorn and ridicule--acting "white"--for studying for tests, for speaking English, working hard, the black race will sink deeper into the soft racism of low expectations.

Sure, I am white; and, I have had advantages that others didn't. But, I have also been excluded because I am not "black enough." I was rejected at several law schools as my black friends (with similar grades and LSAT scores) got accepted. I was not hired for a position because the firm was "seeking greater diversity."

As an aside, I worked on the Reverend Jackson's 1984 Presidential Campaign (before I worked against him).

As a then-citizen of the great state of South Carolina, I was precluded from voting in the Republican Primary because President Ronald Wilson Reagan (the greatest president of my lifetime) was running, unopposed, for re-election. With the prodding of some friends, I changed my registration and went to work on the Jackson campaign.

I registered voters, held signs, and stuffed envelopes. I was, along with a bunch of other white Republicans, responsible for his victory in the South Carolina Primary.

And, when it was over, and the dust had settled, I went to work for President Reagan. The rest, as they say, is history.