Today, Rand Paul (R) Kentucky spoke at Howard University. He is one brave dude. Let me be clear, it is not that I expected the young people at Howard (commonly referred to by Black folk as "The Mecca") to treat him with disrespect or discourtesy. Quite the opposite. I expect that they were instructed to be on their absolute best behavior. No, Sen. Dr. Paul is a brave dude because he's on record as having said that he believes in private ownership, and private owners should, to his thinking, have the right to refuse service to persons of color. That is one brave dude.To hold such a view and yet be courting the favor of intelligent people of color? BRAVE.
And then, also in today's headlines, there's this report in Think Progress about Jim Gile, a Republican commissioner in Saline County, Kansas, who "used an offensive racial slur during an argument with a fellow commissioner, but he wants everyone to know that he isn’t a racist because he’s “built Habitat homes for colored people".
And then, last week, there was that Congressman - Rep. Don Young - from the great state of Alaska, using that old loving term 'wetback' to refer to Hispanics. I tell you, I'm starting to feel like this is an Alien Nation. Or at the very least, I'm starting to feel a little alienation.
Oh and there's the high school graduating class in Georgia, working assiduously at having the school's first integrated prom. Whoo hoo!
In the cases of Mr. Gile of Kansas and Mr. Young of Alaska, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. They are older men, and attitudes and language, are tougher to change past a certain age. If you're accustomed to calling women, 'girls', I'm not going to take offense. If black men are all 'boy' to you, I won't take offense, the black man standing next to me might, but I won't. I understand you see, that you are a prisoner of the time in which you grew up.
Rand Paul though, is a bit of a different story. I just happen to think he hasn't really thought through his positions (certainly not his position on the Civil Rights Act) and therefore says stupid stuff. Well it's either that, or he truly thinks that holding to his beloved Libertarian values means one gets carte blanche to be a racist, sexist, ageist, homophobe. I'm erring on the side of 'he hasn't thought his positions through'. That just makes more sense to me.
While he's working his thoughts out, he and various others (all too often members of his party), say things that let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I am not welcome under their tent. That's OK. The sky is clear and I'd rather be outside anyway.
And then, also in today's headlines, there's this report in Think Progress about Jim Gile, a Republican commissioner in Saline County, Kansas, who "used an offensive racial slur during an argument with a fellow commissioner, but he wants everyone to know that he isn’t a racist because he’s “built Habitat homes for colored people".
And then, last week, there was that Congressman - Rep. Don Young - from the great state of Alaska, using that old loving term 'wetback' to refer to Hispanics. I tell you, I'm starting to feel like this is an Alien Nation. Or at the very least, I'm starting to feel a little alienation.
Oh and there's the high school graduating class in Georgia, working assiduously at having the school's first integrated prom. Whoo hoo!
In the cases of Mr. Gile of Kansas and Mr. Young of Alaska, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. They are older men, and attitudes and language, are tougher to change past a certain age. If you're accustomed to calling women, 'girls', I'm not going to take offense. If black men are all 'boy' to you, I won't take offense, the black man standing next to me might, but I won't. I understand you see, that you are a prisoner of the time in which you grew up.
Rand Paul though, is a bit of a different story. I just happen to think he hasn't really thought through his positions (certainly not his position on the Civil Rights Act) and therefore says stupid stuff. Well it's either that, or he truly thinks that holding to his beloved Libertarian values means one gets carte blanche to be a racist, sexist, ageist, homophobe. I'm erring on the side of 'he hasn't thought his positions through'. That just makes more sense to me.
While he's working his thoughts out, he and various others (all too often members of his party), say things that let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I am not welcome under their tent. That's OK. The sky is clear and I'd rather be outside anyway.
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