Not to defend Haley Barbour, but you have to give a guy a break. Like most conservatives, he was imagining a wonderful period in history that never happened. I.E. a time during the civil rights era when a bunch of white southerners banded together to fight the evil Klu Klux Klan and fight for justice for all people. It didn’t happen that way, true, but at least Barbour fantasizes that it did. It is not like he is bemoaning the civil rights movement or declaring it illegal. Only Rand Paul would do that.
However, acting like this was the straw that broke the camels back in his Presidential hopes? Just look at the guy. He makes Larry the Cable Guy look like the King of England. He has about as much chance of being President as Michelle Bachmann on a bad hair day.
That brings me to racial issues in general. The conversation in the media on these issues is about as enlightening as a profile on Paris Hilton. Do they really think they are getting anywhere by focusing on the drama of race, instead of investigating the cause of racial bias? It’s like they want to see a fight break out.
Think of it this way – why do we classify millions of people in the same light? The African American community is about 40 million people. Hispanics make up far more than that. Sometimes they even try to group together white women. Seriously, white women. Typically they group them in terms of an electorate, as if they carry a collective conscience. And why are Gays and lesbians assumed to share a collective psyche? The gay community is extremely diverse. Over the past few years, we’ve learned that many gays and lesbians are patriots who want to serve in the armed forces, then get married and raise a family. Or as Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council would put it — godless heathens trying to indoctrinate our children into leather bound orgies.
Having a bias against African Americans or gays or Hispanics is about as arbitrary as having a bias against people who are 6’1″ tall.
I just don’t like those people. Those snide, somewhat tall bastards. They think they are so perfect, as they take advantage of the better view they have in a crowd, while still having plenty of room under any ceiling. And, more of them come into this country everyday, just to have children. They breed just to create others like them who will take jobs as high school basketball coaches who weren’t tall enough to play D1 ball. 60% of those 6’1″ voted for Obama, because he is tall. They didn’t like John McCain. No, he is “too short” for them. Just like all the poor short kids they bullied in grade school. The leaders of the 6’1″ community should be ashamed. They basically have no leadership to keep “those people” in line.
That is about how ridiculous racial bias is. And you know why? Because every single one of us is different and shaped by our experiences (our education, our parents, our friends, etc.). We are all accountable to our character and the way we treat others. We should all be held to the same standard. We can’t judge people by their race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc, etc, because that is only one component of who they are.
Does a person’s race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation impact their experiences and their culture? Of course it does. But that does not define them. It doesn’t excuse them if they act like a jerk or break the law. People should be judged based on the unique experiences that make up the person they have become. I have met many different people in my life that fit into many different classifications. Some fit into stereotypes, most do not. Some are good people, some are total a-holes. Their race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation has little to do with it.
That brings us back to Haley Barbour. Don’t judge him for the way he talks, or the stupid crap that comes out of his mouth. It was the fault of his parents. After all, they educated him. They spent day after day raising him and teaching him the ways of the world. Maybe they wanted something better for him than the Governor of the fattest place on earth. Not that all people from Mississippi are fat, or all white people from Mississippi are racist. You cannot lump together the 2,967,297 people that live there. Judge each of them for their actions and decisions. Cut out the drama. The race war is over. Now all we need is to have a beer together.
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