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April 04, 2006

When do two wrongs make a right?

The press release's title screams: Black Minister Calls for Prosecution of Cynthia McKinney

The "black minister" and author of the press release is Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson who espouses a decidedly patriarchal brand of religion and civics.

"This situation is an example of a black liberal Democrat using allegations of racism in order to get away with breaking the law. It’s disgraceful that Cynthia McKinney would charge the Capitol Police with racism for trying to do their jobs. Charges of ‘racism’ and ‘racial profiling’ by McKinney and her attorney are code words often used to intimidate white Americans and get black racists off the hook.

McKinney could have easily defused this situation by apologizing for not having proper identification and for attacking the officer; instead, she held a press conference flanked by known racists such as Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, and members of the NAACP. The real racists here are Cynthia McKinney and her racially divisive supporters. The U.S. Attorney’s office must vigorously pursue this case regardless of the race, gender, or position of the person involved, in order to send a clear message that this type of racial demagoguery will not thwart justice."

I'm not in any way condoning what Rep. McKinney did or how she handled it afterwards. But, it does seem odd to me that somehow Peterson believes that responding to her as a "black" minister and charging her with racism while in the very same paragraph claiming that, "(c)harges of ‘racism’ and ‘racial profiling’ by McKinney and her attorney are code words often used to intimidate white Americans and get black racists off the hook."

So is it only racist when McKinney plays the race card? Apparently that's Peterson's position. Although one does wonder if part of his beef is the fact that McKinney is a woman in a position of power and authority. After all, Peterson is the same guy who claimed that blacks in New Orleans should have evacuated themselves:

Most of us would take our families out of that city quickly to protect them from danger. Then, able-bodied men would return to help others in need, as wives and others cared for children, elderly, infirm and the like.

Maybe being a member of Congress ought also to be the domain of "able-bodied men" in Rev. Peterson's eyes? Surely there must be some "children, elderly, infirm and the like" somewhere that Ms. McKinney could better use her God-given estrogen factory caring for...

Posted by Kevin at April 4, 2006 12:50 PM