Media Pushes Clinton Racial Angle

As Ali G. would put it, "Is Hillary Clinton being racialist? From Politico: "Racial Tensions Roil Democratic Race."

The comments, which ranged from the New York senator appearing to diminish the role of Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement - an aide later said she misspoke - to Bill Clinton dismissing Sen. Barack Obama's image in the media as a "fairy tale" - generated outrage on black radio, black blogs and cable television. And now they've drawn the attention of prominent African-American politicians.

I went to an integrated high school in the 80's, and I can tell you, nothing touched off riots quite like shouts of "Fairy Tale!"
Finally, a media prediction that comes true! During hour one of my New Hampshire coverage, when Hillary had a small but unexpected lead, I predicted that the mainstream media would respond with a vomitous array of dueling narratives. I am no Hillary booster, but I hate to see someone treated unfairly, and this is unfair.

The comments in question were a response to an Obama stump speech invoking Dr. King. What's she supposed to say? "I'm more like Dr. King than Obama is"? Now, in the abstract, what she said was essentially correct. She tries to draw a contrast between inspiration and legislation by saying that it took practical actions to put Dr. King's dream into reality.

Were her remarks about Dr. King tone-deaf? Certainlyyy! Does that make her a racist? Look, fundamentally misunderstanding the Black Experience doesn't make you a racist, it just makes you Every Single White Person. A lot of us have this weird, abstract view of race issues that allows for the existence of terms like "reverse racism." In the abstract, Obama "opened the door", as they say in legal parlance, so the argument was fair game. In reality, it came off, perhaps, like Dr. King couldn't get it done without help from his white masters.

Anyone who knows anything about Hillary Clinton would know that that's not what she meant, but the notion is still genuinely offensive, and self-defeating. King needed white allies to enact his dream. Obama is his own ally, a black man who has escaped the margins.

I sincerely hope that voters don't pick up this fumbled political football. There are important issues at stake here, and we have three excellent candidates to choose from. Let's do it on the substance.

Update: I wanted to add a brief postscript. Anyone trying to post the email of urban legends about Senator Obama, don't bother. I will be deleting them. Also, I am very impressed at the generally productive level of discourse by the commentators on this very sensitive issue.

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