These People, Those People

I am really, really trying not to get too terribly mad about this but, dammit this man is just going to dig himself into an Al Campanis hole! Now massa and his missus done saved mo' nigras than the entire Black Caucus!

Yes, where would the black community be without heroes like Bill Bennett:

BENNETT: Let me just tell you, when it comes to abortion, my wife's program, Best Friends, has kept more young women from having abortions because they don't get pregnant because they take her good counsel...

HANNITY: Let me...

BENNETT: Than the entire black caucus. She has done more for inner city black girls than the entire black caucus. So I will not bow my head to any of these people.

More on this controversy here.

People! This is what needs to be understood about racism. It isn't about knowing some black people or liking some black people or having let some black people into your house through the front door. It is the air of superiority and condescension, even over matters that one couldn't possibly understand, that makes one racist. It is the failure to acknowledge that, quite possibly, you don't know everything (or even anything) about what it means to be black in America. It is the arrogance with which one defends oneself while implying that ones deeds trump the deeds of black people. It is claiming that you aren't racist in one breath then calling people "these people" in the next.

With all that has happened with the hurricanes and the thrusting of poverty and race into the global spotlight, along with the GOP's tepid attempts to court more black votes, it would seem that some of these people would learn to at least temper their thoughts, words and actions. Following the lazy logic that the Bill Bennett's of the world have to use to be understood by their listeners and viewers, I can almost rationalize letting his original remarks roll off my back. However, the more he talks, the more I find him to be a pompous, and yes racist, ass whose remarks are getting more insulting everytime he opens his mouth. The gall of this ilk of folks just blows my mind! But, on the positive side, we needed Katrina to expose things that people would like to forget. We need the Bill Bennetts to keep on talking so that everyone has a clear idea of exactly who the most influential people in the GOP are. It's always important to know, in no uncertain terms, where you stand. Clearly in America if you are black, poor, old, very young or any combination therein, you can and will be marginalized and seen are as expendable. Bill Bennett can hypothesize about erasing an entire race of people to rid the country of petty crime (while rich white men can dishonestly bilk the country out of millions and kill millions through environmental irresponsibility) and we can bear witness to dozens of old, sickly people drowning -- needlessly -- in their hospital beds during a flood. It's sad that in 2005 this is where we are as a civilized country but it is true.