After looking at all those civil war weapons etc yesterday I was reminded of something from Ken Burns Masterpiece The Civil War that quoted a New York Tribune at the time:
It is not too much to say that if this Massachusetts 54th had faltered when it’s trial came two hundred thousand troops that for whom it was a pioneer would never have been put into the field…But it did not falter…
Then there is Jackie Robinson:
If Robinson failed, white owners, not to mention fans, who had resisted integrating baseball, would use his performance as “evidence” to support their stance. Every time he stepped on the field, Robinson strapped his race to his back and carried it on his journey with them.
Now we have President Barak Obama. He doesn’t have the experience or service record of a Charlie Rangel, or the moderate record of a Harold Ford Jr. He doesn’t have the civil rights background of a John Louis but he is the man in the White House.
In terms of experience and qualification any of the three men I’ve just mentioned are far superior to president Obama in every respect, but to an organization like the NAACP it doesn’t matter. Barak Obama is the first black president of the United States and the first black president (no matter who he would have been) can’t be allowed to fail for fear that Americans will consider a black man unqualified for the highest office in the land. And if Ken Gladney needs to be beaten, called a Nigger and put in his place to help prevent that failure so be it.
The problem is that they are looking at President Obama and what drives him backwards. He’s not a Black man who happened to be part of the Chicago Machine. He is a Chicago Machine Pol who happens to be black and THAT makes all the difference.
The tactics he uses and the items he supports are driven by that machine background. His race doesn’t mean squat, that’s why the Gladney story isn’t all over the news. If what happened to Gladney advances his goals, like a good machine pol he’s all for it.
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