Politico said it so it must be true!

They also paint out Al's history on racial relations in a very negative light.

This is important because it makes having a fair discussion on racial relations far more difficult. Racial relations are a smoldering fire in our nation that unless dealt with quickly may become a raging inferno.

In my opinion it's not a good idea to play political games with race. It may fire up the Democratic base but that will be offset by the anger created in the Republican base. Unfortunately it does seem that both political parties are trying their best to use this issue to their advantage and to further divide our nation rather than unite it.

I'm tired of the two major political parties fighting like unsupervised children on a playground. I want my grandchildren to grow up in a better nation and that means we need to solve problems and not exacerbate them.

We need another MLK. Unfortunately such people rarely come along.

Politico is the right wing media.

There's nothing Dems can do about the right wing media. It is what it is and the best approach is to ignore them.

I also find it interesting that you claim that it's actually Dems who are playing political games when it comes to race. It's actually the right wingers who are playing games. In time whites will become a minority and the majority of this nation wil; determine the path forward whether you like it or not.

This angers Republicans who are a mostly white party, but they're just going to have to deal.

We need another MLK?

What the fuck does that even mean?

with the racial issue.

I'm tired of all political games as are most Americans. I'm in my late 60s and I fear this nation is becoming more divided each and every year. Like most people I am disgusted with Congress and its lack of ability to solve anything.

Real life is not a game like football where you are a fan of one team and hate the other. Does it really matter if the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns? Not really. But it does matter if our nation is so divided that we can't make progress. It has a definite effect on each and everyone of our lives.

I am getting old but I have grandchildren and even great grandchildren that I care about. I want to see them live in a better country than we do today. In order for that to happen we need to reduce the amount of hatred between our two political parties and promote some respect between both. Republicans and Democrats have far different viewpoints but that doesn't mean that any compromise is impossible.

It's very easy if you are a loyal Democrat to blame everything on the Republicans and there are definitely some good reasons to do so. Unfortunately both parties bear some blame.

You asked, why I mentioned MLK. Dr. Martin Luther King was one of the truly great people of the last century. He was more of a uniter than a divider. Surely you have heard of him. We need another leader like him today. One of the biggest problems in our nation today is that white people don't realize what its like to be a black or Hispanic person. That was also true when MLK was alive but he was able to educate them and gain their support to help start a movement to overcome discrimination. We made some significant progress but still have a long way to go and it appears we are moving backward not forward.

Surely you cannot be that ignorant of our country's history?

Much of the adoration for MLK from whites comes as a result of a very white-washed (pun intended) version of who and what the man was -- a very informed and intelligent, VERY passionate, VERY fiery, VERY pro-black leader who wanted nothing more than for his people, particularly his children, to be allowed to live their lives without the constant fear of white terrorism and oppression.

was unable to participate in the demonstrations as I was in the military. (In passing there was racial discrimination in the Air Force at that time. I became friends with black airmen that caused some white airmen to intensely dislike me.)

Yes there were many white people who hated MLK but there were far more who supported his movement. It not it would have never had the success it did.

Sure history has whitewashed MLK and it could be argued that he had his faults as every person does. That doesn't change the fact that he was a great leader that moved our nation forward by enabling many black people to succeed and contribute far more to our society than they could have before the civil right movement. Without MLK we would most likely not have a black president today.

Our nation had some great leaders in those days, MLK, JFK, RFK and LBJ are prime examples.

At one time he was known as "the most powerful man in America."

or the RESULT of them?

Sharpton is NOT Obama's go to guy, but I wish he was, it would make rightys head spin right off on to the table.

The object should be to find a way to reduce racial tensions in our nation.

I feel that the big mistake Obama is making is associating with Al Sharpton. He is far too divisive and will be used by the right to fire up their base. All you have to do is to listen to Fox News for half an hour and it is likely that Al Sharpton will be mentioned in a very negative light. Republicans hate Eric Holder and the Rev Al and I'm beginning to feel they hate Rev Al more.

I want to see real progress made on the racial problem. I would like to see Obama step up to the plate and use his bully pulpit more. He is possibly the best person to unite our nation. I really hoped we would see far more progress on this issue when I voted for him but since he has been in office we seem to have went backward.

and then insist on legitimizing their rantings by falling for white-privileged RWer bullshit that empowers itself to define so-called "black leaders" for the "black community"?

So how about this - I say that white leaders like Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly need to demand that John Boehner forces Michael Grimm to resign his congressional seat since he pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

See what I did there? Seems you are doing the same.

There are dozens of heads of civil rights groups who have an audience with the President and to fantasize about one, as if he were the only and purported most powerful in your mind, given the alleged reaction that you predict the loony right would have because of his very presence, is about as silly and naive as one can get.

I watch all three 24/7 cable networks and do a lot of reading from a number of sources.

In my opinion both liberals and conservatives have good points to make. Since I test out as a liberal to the left of the mainstream of the Democratic Party, I tend to agree with the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party on most issues.

For example on this test at http://www.people-press.org/quiz/political-typology/

I scored:

allows defining of who is believed to be the black community's "black leaders", as well as who the President should associate with. It's breathtakingly insulting.

Get a clue.

Unfortunately many white people are unaware of what it is like to be a minority.

This incident did get SOME attention.

Who the fuck is the Right to tell us who we should select as our leaders...tell me that??? And the same old tired shit is trotted out; Tawana Brawley, Crown Heights.

You know who you never about from hear about from these folks? Eleanor Bumpers....Sean Bell.....Yusef Hawkins...The Central Park Five. Do you know who they are???

Are you White?....I mean no disrespect in that question. But if you are....Who the fuck are you to tell us who are the appropriate people we should select as leaders? Your time would be spent much better theorizing how the White community can select leaders that respect the rights of all people, including people of color.

You want to preach about leadership...put up some effective fucking leaders who will come to the table honestly and deal with these issues

is a "race hustler."

Unbelievable posts here lately. The hoods are out.

True, you get to pick your own leaders. That's fine. But if you wish to see progress it may not be wise to pick a leader who is seen as being as divisive by white people as Al Sharpton is. I would never recommend white people pick Rush Limbaugh as their leader on race relations. To be honest I don't see many white people today who can step up and help resolve this problem at this time.

The one person I feel could make a big difference is President Obama. I hope he steps up to the plate and tries to unite our nation. If he does and is successful he will have a great legacy. He has the charisma and the oratory skill needed and he will gain popularity if he tries.

In my lifetime we have made considerable progress on race relations but obviously we have a long way to go. I feel the overwhelming majority of white people are willing to work together with the minority communities to overcome our problems on this issue. Most white people are not racists but it is true that we are largely unaware of what it is to be a minority in our nation.

By picking black leaders that white people don't consider to be divisive. You do realize that what you are requesting is the epitome of white privileged behavior, right?
There are thousands of racist ass white leaders, but you want to focus on BLACK leaders and how it is up to them to solve racism, since white people can't do it at all, and we must pick only leaders that white racists are comfortable with? Really? Are you serious?

How about we decide who are our leaders and you be supportive and pipe down about who you would prefer to lead black people and work on YOUR WHITE leaders and make them stop being racist jerks, mmmkay?
WTFucking shit?

You in trouble now.....You shouldn't be tellin these good White folks who should lead them

I feel like I just time traveled. WT ever-loving Fuck is going on? People done lost their minds.

Not sure what's worse...those posters who know they are condescending and don't care or those who are totally oblivious to their ignorance.

There was another thread here today where someone posted how they didn't think comparing Mike Brown to an ape was racist.........for real...I had to refill my Christmas cup

That makes them uncomfortable so, we need quieter leaders who racists can like. No wonder I'm always smoking weed. This shit drives me up the wall. But, it is improving my writing, since I am planning an Epistolary novel about 1920's Alabama. They fit perfectly into that time period. I may move back the timeline since I'm hearing so much antebellum nonsense.

It's like satire, except not. These people even hear themselves?

to find ways to improve race relations.

You can pick the leaders you want. It's your choice. I am merely advising you to chose wisely if you wish to see true progress. I intend to support white leaders who are not racist and are interesting in working with black leaders to find solutions.

how condescending that statement comes is...absolutely clueless LOL

Do your part. Our leaders have not been upholding an unfair system of racial injustice. That would be white leadership. We have been doing our part for hundreds of years, your turn to get to work on your leaders instead of trying to focus your attention on Al Sharpton while we have very vocal White leaders who are stealing our voting rights and support the murder of our children. Calling our children thugs and animals. And you ignore the racists in your social economic group to bitch about Al Sharpton making white folks uncomfortable?
How fucking comfortable do you think we are that we still have to fucking march in the fucking streets just to get a person arrested for murdering our sons and fathers? That our lives can be snuffed out while white people discuss whether we were a thug or 'charging' like an animal, or saying we look like demons.
I'll take your uncomfortable and raise you my scared shitless. Most selfish bullshit i ever seen. Fucking shit.

I feel one of the major problems in our nation is caused by our failed War on Drugs. It hasn't proven any more successful than Prohibition was in the 1920s.

Should we move to repeal the War on Drugs?

It is racist and still supported by many so called liberals.
Black dockworkers used cocaine, sometimes chewed the leaves to increase their productivity and ease their weary bodies, providing a boost of energy. White were scared that they would turn into deranged, super-strong demon negros. No wonder its illegal.
Chinese people ran opium dens as was their custom. White women began using these dens and becoming addicts.
Jazz clubs had reefer galore, and white women attended those clubs and had relations with black men, so white men needed to tell themselves that their women were lured by the drugs. Wacky reefer.
Did you see the joy of hippies black white and whatever, beatniks, rock and rolls integration? Must starts a drugs war, those chemical cause people to shed their biases and mix in together.

The drug war is a war on the poor, the free, the young, the unity. You cannot do LSD and hate color. You cant smoke grass with a black man and not empathize.
You can't be high and hate hate hate.

In his book Dreams from My Father he mentioned his use of illegal drugs.

In my opinion the War on Drugs has done tremendous damage to our society in many different ways. It definitely is a war on black men but it has also hurt the white community.

I am not opposed to interracial sex or marriage.

My father died in the 1963 and I remember him telling me before he died that we would have racial strife in our nation as it is impossible to hold down a group of people forever. He predicted the Civil Rights movement and expected it would be somewhat successful. He then said the ultimate solution would be interracial marriage and that in 100 years we would have a nation where a majority of people were of mixed race.

He worked for years in the Hill District of Pittsburgh as an insurance investigator and had a number of black acquaintances. That's probably why he sensed the growing unrest.

Our party does not even fully support legalizing Cannibis, there is no way he could push for an end to the drug war. He is not a Wizard. Our party has to do the work of ending the drug war, and not wait for a savior. Democrats are too afraid of what Republicans may say if they ended the drug war.
It will take my generation to end it. We see first had what the policies have done to our society. No knock warrants, 'accidentally' killing people suspected of holding drugs, militarized police, gang violence (like with alcohol prohibition). That is the drug war. Look at Mexico... We will end up like that soon enough. Cartels pay better than Mc Donalds, so pretty soon our felons who we wont hire because of their nonviolent drug felonies will apply for a position with a drug dealer. Yay collective punishment.

With all that working against black people in America, no wonder we don't care if white people like Al Sharpton. White people never like our leaders until they are dead.

Y'all gots to stop worrying about us making you uncomfortable and start worrying about equality.
If you support my right to be your equal, you support it whether i'm nice or nasty. Otherwise you are just paying lip service to a belief in equality. 'Only if it's easy' is not a good motto to support fairness for all.

I am worried that instead of moving forward on the racial problems in our nation we may find our nation more divided than it has been in the last twenty years.

I grew up with them and I am 33. I grew up in three types of places. One where the only blacks were my family, and I was treated like I was living in Jim Crow south. I was only allowed in the store with my white step father or my mother because, 'y'all ni$$er/ steal'. And the kids beat me up and called me names. It was so bad they never even used my name, just called me 'Cassie girl, from "Roll of thunder, Hear my Cry", by Mildred D Taylor. I will never forget the way the teachers started calling me that name that wasn't mine, and smirked at me.
I also lived in an area where I never saw a white person until I started school, they were teachers, no white children. That was in Los Angeles.
I moved up here and never really had any problems since. Oh, I get weird looks and a bit of nastiness, but nothing compared to California. If it was that bad in Cali, I cannot Fathom how terrible it was in the South.

The divisions were already there. You are hearing about them because we are telling you. Shit never did get not better for most and we have been going backwards since Reagan was elected president.
Rose colored glasses and all.

communities.

It is possible that peaceful demonstrations may educate white people and help to foster change.

My White friend pick your leaders better, your failures to do so has way more to do with problems in this country than anything that Al Sharpton has done

Al Sharpton has not caused anyone, Black or White, to be imprisoned for decades due to prosecutorial misconduct or just out and out racism.

Al Sharpton has not put into place a justice system in which people of color are punished much more harshly for the same crimes committed by White people

Al Sharpton did not create stop and frisk, did not oversee a flawed system that led to unnecessary interactions between cops and POC which often ended badly for us.

Al Sharpton is not head of a police union, whose members largely live outside of the communities they police, certainly do not look like us and has NEVER, EVER asked what they can do to increase the trust levels between the police and the communities they serve.

Al Sharpton has never been mayor of a major American citizen and looked down on his citizens and treated them as they were second class serfs.

Maybe, as a White person, you should be complaining less about Al Sharpton and doing more about the White members of the power structure who have allowed a lot of these injustices to continue unabated.

Loving your posts in this thread.

I don't think the white community was all that aware of the problems in the black community. Now that the demonstrations are occurring we may see more white leaders willing to step up and help solve the problems.

I intend to support any leader, black or white, who is willing to find peaceful solutions.

I can post here and on other forums and express my desire to find good leaders. I can vote for politicians who I feel can help. I'm unable to participate in peaceful demonstrations as I am a candidate for a hip replacement and can't walk more than a block.

I will do what I can and i hope others also do so.

Sorry, but white people are allowed to criticize black leaders.

It's much easier than asking why your white leaders are absent and waiting for Al Sharpton to fix racism and tell black people how to do it right.

or if they concerned themselves with white people's comfort at all, the whole civil rights movement would never have happened. That's not how it works.

on something he knows about himself?

dammit, Obama';s main problem is that he keeps beign afraid to offend the right, who would be offended even if Obama made David Duke his minister of race relations.

I don't think you mean it that way. Perhaps "Obama has walked a fine line..." is better.

it's just me - the word "restraint" is what got me -- but your point is more complex than a headline and you make it well.

with the RW assholes who are destroying this country.

Lesser men and women resort to passive aggressive behavior or outright vengeance. Bush, Cheney and their ilk appeal to those with no self control or the inability to control their base instincts.

Tea party folk like the black, white and shallow issues because of their inability to comprehend depth or variables.

These people see what they want to see - what they NEED to see. They are fragile, afraid, and ready to lash out at those they've been told are the enemy.

They are "willingly brainwashed". In the end, they are indeed brainwashed.

There are those who stay stupid stuff like that he intends only to be President of black people. They assume a lot and they don't ever actually listen to Obama, just right wing blowhards, so their view of him is entirely distorted.

I know others may not agree, but Eric Holder has also done quite well.

with the wingnut racists that even some Black folks I've come across both online and in RL have wanted him to be more aggressive and active in terms of racial matters. I'm sure that he wants to do and say more, but of course the wingnut mouthpieces/politicians/rank-and-file are there to try to derail any efforts to solve racial inequity/inequality/etc. It's sad.

Trying to appease the bigots and racists isn't worth a shit. Gary people didn't cover the ground they have over the last 20 years cowering in the closet and trying to find "acceptable leaders", they got loud, proud, in the face, and said deal with it.