Powerline noted the story about Detroit city councilwoman Monica Conyers getting her comeuppance from an eighth grader in regards to her juvenile outburst from earlier this year. I'll post it here for context..
The child displayed amazing clearness of thought and poise under pressure, never wavering as the adult authority figure tried to trip her up several times. It was obvious the child was better suited for the job than Ms Conyers based only on common sense. Certainly it was a testament to the way this young lady was raised and it should give everyone a good feeling about the future knowing kids like her are out there.
But another striking thing about this story is the lack of a racial angle. For example, had a white, Latino, or Asian child been in attendance and said those things the whole story would have been transformed into a racial fog and the needed slap-down would have become something else.
As human beings we all share a basic sense of "boundaries" that transcend racial lines. They make us more similar than we realize, yet oftentimes we can't get far enough past the surface to recognize we're even sharing them.
In some respects this is what Barack Obama was selling, a sort of transcendence towards common values, which has been a large part of his popularity. But at the same time that's exactly why his close 20 year relationship with a man with the values and beliefs of reverend Wright matters so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment