A president for all of America?

By Vincent Fiore

Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile recently said regarding President Obama: "Obama is the president for all Americans, not just black Americans." Further, Brazile, who is black, also stated that the president has "enough on his plate" to deal with, and that he "should not necessarily become the healer in chief."

Brazile need not worry herself regarding that last remark. President Obama will not be thought of as the "healer in chief" regarding race relations in the United States.

Of course, this all stems from the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research on July 16, 2009.

The country, by and large, had not become acquainted with the matter, hardly paying any attention to Gates and his troubles. So it came as a surprise to many Americans that during his televised prime-time news conference on health care, President Obama fielded a question on the arrest of Gates, and the element that accompanies it, race.

Obama stated: I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-American and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact."

It's amazing how "Latinos" suddenly becomes a useful noun for prominent black leaders when discussing Civil Rights and the like. It seems that misery loves company, whether the company desires — or deserves — to be there or not.

After this statement of "fact" by Obama, police organizations from across the country called the president's remarks "disgraceful" and "totally inappropriate." Certainly, knowing what we now know, this is true enough. The arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, is regarded by black and white, and yes, Latino officers and superiors as an "outstanding police officer."

Crowley, who teaches a racial profiling class to fellow police officers, is spoken of by Sgt. Tom Fleming, director of Lowell Police Academy, as "a squared away guy. He's a really good role model for young cops and he was selected to teach this racial profiling class by the former police commissioner of Cambridge, Ron Watson. Watson, by the way, is black.

As far as acting "stupidly," Henry Gates falls neatly into that category. All one needs do is read the original police report, which was posted on the Boston Globe web site, but was pulled a scant 30 minutes later to be replaced by a "redacted revised document."

In the original report, you would discover how racist and belligerent the allegedly affronted Henry Gates is, not the Cambridge Police Department, and specifically, Sgt. James Crowley.

So where does all this stand now? Well, after reading the White House tea leaves (polls) and hearing the national blowback on how "stupidly" he reacted, President Obama backed down a bit, and admitted that he "unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. James Crowley specifically — and I could have calibrated those words differently."

While it is not an apology, it is an admission of reckless commentary by a sitting president who, at his news conference, should have stopped at "I don't know." But besides an admission of recklessness, it is a window into Obama's soul.

Most of us who voted against this man already believed that he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder, a chip that stems from a lifetime of being read a narrative on race relations and how a black man in America should view that relationship. The only problem is that President Obama, and others like Henry Louis Gates, will not let the races live in at least some type of nurtured and matured harmony. They are too busy stirring the prejudicial pot.

Finally, speaking as a white man in America, I need to say this to people who wish to be insulted, or looking for an excuse to be offended, or some other self-imposed form of discrimination: I realize race is a sensitive issue, and that blacks are especially sensitive to the history of race relations in this country. But that was sometime ago, and while I certainly do not deny history or believe for a moment that racism is a thing of that past, neither do I believe the complete over-dramatization of one-sided racism — whites being the offender — either. Racism is not a "whites only" characteristic.

I am tired, so very tired, of the Louis Henry Gateses of the world, and of a president who believes as Gates himself does. And while I knew that this president was the same man who graced the pews of the church of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who speaks of "white folks greed runs a world in need," I was hopeful that this man would rise to the office of the presidency.

I also knew that this was the man whose wife believed that "as a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station, you know." Is this what America is to Barack and Michelle Obama? Is this what their children are taught?

On a Wednesday night that was supposed to showcase health care reform, Obama instead showcased his racial beliefs by reflexively planting his flag on the side of Henry Gates, thereby turning his back to the millions of non-blacks that supported his candidacy, and further, on those who did not, but were respectful of who he is, black or not.

But that's it, isn't it? Most of us "hateful, racist, white folk" look at people as "Americans," and think of race as just a product of chance. Imagine that!

For President Obama, and for far too many blacks in America, true allegiance to a country and not a color has not and cannot happen as long as blacks continue to believe that racism is the exclusive property of whites. Racism is a behavior, quite frankly, that blacks are as equally if not more at home with these days than whites.

Look into your own hearts before you dare to judge mine.

© Vincent Fiore