I should probably precede any comments that include the word racism with my opinions on the matter. I think racism is stupid. Thinking you know about individuals and and judging them based on their race is just not thinking very hard at all. Also, as a Christian I find the practice of particularly abhorrent. That being said I have noticed that as our society has made progress (though slowly and belatedly to be sure) in a direction away from racism the charge of racist has been thrown out with too little ease and insufficient care in political circles.
I was reminded of this by this articleby David Horowitz in response to quote about Mr Horowitz in Al Franken’s recent book. In the book, Mr Franken refers to Mr Horowitz as a “guest racist” on the show Hannity & Colmes.
The “guest racist” bit, of course, was entirely gratuitous, It was casually interjected as though it referred to an obvious and widely recognized fact. This is typical fairness for Franken.
As it happens I marched in my first civil rights protest in 1948 before Al Franken was born. For more than fifty years I have supported minorities and defended their civil rights in public word and deed, and raised millions of dollars to help inner city minorities whom racism has scarred. In fact there is no single cause – except America’s wars against totalitarian foes – to which I have devoted myself more consistently that than that of racial equality. Not a shred of evidence exists to the contrary. I have written more than a million words on racial and political matters — all of them public record. There is not a single sentence, or phrase, or comment of mine that could be cited to justify Franken’s attack.
I write not in defense of any opinion Horowitz may have expressed on the show. I would not be surprised to find out that his politics are more conservative than mine as I am certain that Franken’s are more liberal. But I was sensitive to the libel in the accusation (not legally libel as it falls in what the courts consider opinion). I have also heard the accusation raised against President Bush recently as if it were a well known fact that he is a racist. Now, I did not vote for Bush in the last election as i have mentioned previously, but I don’t find the accusation consistent with either his appointments nor with the personal stories I hear from those who know him. Can there ever be a day when we can disagree with people without assuming they are stupid or bigoted or unpatriotic?
