The Black Republican

I heard something on FOX News Sunday which reminded me of the old controversy over Rush Limbaugh's comment that there was sentiment for Donovan McNabb to succeed because he is black. I am unable to locate a transcript of the panel discussion of January 21, 2007, but the gist of the conversation went something like this:

Chris Wallace: What part does Obama’s race play in his prospects to become President?

Juan Williams: Well, he is a black man, so he has such an incredibly high burden to bear, the world is against him for being dark-skinned; it hurts his chances.

Brit Hume: Juan is exactly wrong. The very fact that Obama is dark-skinned, though not black, since his Mother was white, while his Father was black, serves him well. The great majority of the people in America want him to succeed precisely because he is black. The real sentiment in this country is support and good wishes for people of color. America wants them to succeed. Barak Obama is a well spoken man, and intelligent and handsome, traits that Americans admire, but he is without a record of accomplishment equal to the Office he seeks. If he were white, he wouldn't even be in the race.

Those are not exact quotes, but I do not believe that I have not taken any liberty with their expressed views either. Basically that is what they said.

Now, if Mr. Hume is attacked for his position, I will deeply regret having made this post. He should not be attacked; just Mr. Limbaugh should not have been attacked. Both have said what the majority of the American people feel, we want all of our people to succeed, and we especially want blacks to succeed. There is nothing wrong with that.

Mr. Limbaugh also said that McNabb was over-rated, and while that is debatable, it isn't racist, nor was it an unfair. His statement was based on McNabb's performance , or more precisely, McNabb non-performance, in comparison with the image many were promoting for him. McNabb had not lived up to the hype.

At this point, the same question trails Mr. Obama, is he over-rated? We wish him well, in part because of his blackness, but mostly because we want leaders who do good work on our behalf. In his chosen profession the benchmark for success is how much he promotes our success. To date he has not demonstrated that he has the vision to lead. But, we feel better about ourselves just knowing that he has the opportunity to succeed; now it is up to him to prove that he is not over-rated. That is a demand which we should all make upon everyone who impacts our lives. Some will succeed, some will fail, and that is how life works. And there is nothing wrong with that either.