So it saddened me to read the words of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid when he ostensibly was trying to bolster the bid of Barack Obama for the White House. Mr. Reid suggested that as a “light-skinned” black man, Mr. Obama would be more palatable to the electorate as a potential president. The Nevada senator “praised” Mr. Obama’s ability to turn off what Mr. Reid must perceive as a widespread “Negro dialect” when speaking to audiences who are not amenable to such a speaking style.
Voters certainly deserve more credit than some of the people they elect to high office give them.
Whether those words and the sentiment they represent were spoken in the U.S. Senate to praise Mr. Obama or used to sanitize deep-seated hatred at a White Citizens’ Council meeting in the 1950s, they are reprehensible and indefensible. No ifs ands or buts about it. Our leaders need to acknowledge that fact.
From the Washington Times
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