Tonight Herman Cain might have a moment of introspection during the Arkansas-Auburn halftime. Cain sat out the civil rights movement. Many did. A fellow who will walk to midfield tonight was crazy different. Republicans prefer to go along to get along. They’d rather ignore history. Darrell Brown made it.
Herman Cain is the same guy who confused “right of return” with a retail customer policy before deciding to answer a question in an area where was clearly uninformed thereby taking a policy position with no idea the consequence. This is all too familiar ground for Republicans for whom looking Presidential is more important than being Presidential. Form over substance. This is part and parcel of the misconception about business success as a qualifier for public office. Leave that for later.
The contrast between Darrel Brown and Herman Cain is important for Republicans to come to grips with to understand why many African Americans will hang with the Democratic Party well into the next generation or until the greatest generation is passed on and the ugly, embarrassing past isn’t so personal. You see, there just aren’t many Republican heroes in the fight for civil rights. And those Democrats who were obstructionists in the era when it mattered, moved on to and found a new home in the Republican Party using social issues like abortion for cover. Yes, we understand the many reasons “evangelicals” found cover there.
Darrell Brown’s story is beyond edgy. It is a shameful revelation of the character of Frank Broyles, the man after whom the field at the University of Arkansas stadium is named. It is a graphic reminder of our nation’s fallibility; of the excesses of majority rule without regard to minority rights. It is the reason that Herman Cain’s nonchalant dismissal of the significance of action demonstrates that he is absent of the kind of character and leadership required of a President; the kind that recognizes justice and injustice and acts; not a requisite business skill.
No one should voluntarily take the kinds of licks Darrell Brown took. But Herman Cain made a choice to take no direct action and that his his report card. That choice is not an indictment. It is just a part of his life vitae. He’s in the right Party for that. He’s a guy who probably didn’t recognize the time to act. And that disqualifies him for the office he seeks.
Oh, and Arkansas, rename that football field.
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