By Craig McDermott, cross-posted from Random Musings
State Sen. Al Melvin (R-Slave Labor is a good thing) issued a response to the President's remarks that illustrates that the mentality that caused AZ to be subject to extra scrutiny under the Voting Rights Act still exists, even if the Supreme Court set aside part of the VRA –
"Inflammatory"?? Either Melvin didn't watch the press conference, or he is a complete moron. Not that those are mutually exclusive states of being.
And if "race relations" have actually declined since Obama became President, it isn't because of any action on his part.
Other than, maybe, daring to exist in a world where the Melvins of that world think should be subject to absolute all-white control.
I think we can rely on Al Melvin & his ilk dying off and already we can see that younger people are rejecting Melvin’s rigid, narrow views on topics like marriage equality. Melvin & his ilk are dinosaurs. The tar pits loom ahead of them. For these reasons I’m hopeful.
Melvin, like too many others, believes that to talk about race is wrong. He calls it inflammatory. My only hope is that Melvin and his ilk will die off and that we will be left with younger people who try to understand other perspectives. Otherwise, we are f#@ked.
This is from the man who has voted for every Neo-Confederate bill for states’ rights “nullification” and “sovereignty” to come through the AZ legislature since he has been in office. You can look it up.
This is a disturbing trend in the conservative media entertainment complex which asserts that African-Americans are the real racists, because they demand “special treatment” at the expense of whites, who are legitimately aggrieved against this unfairness. This comes from the conservatives’ need to always feel persecuted for their beliefs, as if they are matryrs for Christ.
The “special treatment” African-Americans seek is no more than the same constitutional rights, privileges and immunites afforded to all American citizens, including equal protection of the laws and due process (14th Amendment) and the right to vote (15th Amendment).
As Dr. King said 50 years ago, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.””