The Black Republican

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The "I'm more sympathetic than you" crowd has a new gold standard: no one is allowed to measure poverty in terms of wealth.It's a lazy Sunday afternoon, so I thought I'd check out what's tripping across the Fox News wire. I should have stayed in bed this morning.

But alas, at least I have a bed. Unlike most poor Americans, right? Think again:

According to a recent study by the Heritage Foundation, 46 percent of the technically "poor" live in their own homes, most with more living space than the average person in Paris, London or Vienna. While 73 percent own at least one car, 30 percent own two or more, and 76 percent have air conditioning. Also, according to the study, 65 percent have a washing machine, 97 percent have a color TV and 78 percent have a DVD player or VCR.

"I just think that measuring quality of life in the United States -- or for that matter anywhere -- by material possessions is morally bankrupt," said Bob Erlenbusch with the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger. "We've got in L.A. County on any given night, 80,000 to 90,000 people who are homeless."

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Yet another example of the twisted racism that has perverted King's Dream. As you read the excerpt from James Taranto below (borrowed from an omaha.com article), just remember... this happened at a SCHOOL!!!  I think it speaks for itself...

Four students at Omaha, Neb.'s Westside High School are in trouble for distributing a poster urging the school to give Trevor Richards its "Distinguished African American Student Award," the Omaha World Harold reports. Although the school refuses to say what punishments it meted out, Trevor's mother says he was suspended for two days for hanging the poster.

Trevor is in fact African-Ameircan; indeed, he's an immigrant from South Africa. But school officials say he's ineligible for the award--which is given out every Martin Luther King Day--because he's a person of pallor. One of the four students "was punished for circulating a petition Tuesday morning in support of the boys."

So not only is the school "honoring" Dr. King by judging students on the color of their skin rather than the content of their character; they're punishing anyone who dares question their policies.

One of the things that happens when a new holiday takes root is that myths about the memorialized person or event are propagated. Another thing that happens is that the holiday becomes a call-to-arms for divergent views - especially views that run counter to the original intent of the founders or the opinions of the honoree. We can see this happening today in articles referring to MLK Day.

Probably the most ironic of the divergent views put forward yesterday comes from none other than Jesse Jackson, who would have us believe not an inch of progress has been made since 1963.

In Harrisonburg, Va., the Rev. Jesse Jackson said political leaders have been "romanticizing" King and taking his remarks out of context. He said a common misconception is that sentiments from King's "I Have a Dream" speech have been fulfilled, Jackson told a crowd of more than 1,000 at James Madison University.

"I was with him on his deathbed in Memphis," said Jackson. "These past years I have become more anxious -- and sometimes disturbed -- at the celebration of Dr. King's birthday and the romanticizing of his life."

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I noticed this headline peeking out at me from the "U.S. National News" section on my MyYahoo! page: Powell Recalls King's Efforts for Blacks. This article mentions that Colin Powell is currently the U.S. Secretary of State, and once served as the nation's senior uniformed military officer as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And it mentions that this man is black. But what I find significant is that neither reference alludes to the fact that he was the first "person of color" to ever do so - in fact it doesn't even hint that there's anything unusual about the man's high office or exemplary resumé.

A cynic might point out that making note of these achievements would require one to think about the two Presidential Administrations that placed a black man into such high positions, and the political party of those Administrations. The same cynic might argue this would also lead to similar questions regarding Clarence Thomas, Condaleeza Rice, Rodney Paige, and Alphonso Jackson, who together represent the most significant assemblage of blacks in appointed offices in American history.

I would contend however, that the reason why the "achievement" of appointing and retaining a new record number of blacks in high office is not in print is because making note of the fact runs the risk of diminishing it. We must lead not by word, but by example. We must not reduce any man to a token on account of his religion, his ethnicity, his race - or his color. We will achieve The Dream when all thought of "firsts" is but a distant memory, and a portrait of the President and his Cabinet engenders but once thought in the nation's conscience:

Here is a collection of people of the finest character America has to offer.

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