I was reaffirmed in my beliefs as a tried-and-true progressive when I read the article “Racism is Fun?” by Touré. As a white male who sees very little of himself in the conservative elites who dominate the airwaves with outright bigotry and hypocrisy and yet somehow remain relatively immune from any meaningful criticism, my anger was assuaged when I discovered that I was not the only one who was disgusted by Governor Perry’s words and actions relating to the legitimacy of President Obama’s status as a United States citizen. I am deeply disturbed by Governor Perry’s blatant disrespect for our President. As Touré points out, Perry’s actions signal a deeply-rooted distrust of non-whites. This display of racism is not only misguided but should not be tolerated by American society.
Governor Perry stands as a representative of a brand of racist, small-minded and starved-of-empathy elites with nothing more to offer America than empty vitriol and meaningless ideas. These are the men (and women) who allow an openly gay servicemen to be booed by a crowd, simply because he made his sexuality known to the cadre of hopeful American leaders. Leaders is a poor choice of words on my part, I must admit, because the bigotry and racism that Governor Perry and many of his Republican presidential hopefuls display is not leadership.
Thank you, Touré, for speaking up and giving a voice to those who respect the virtues of tolerance, empathy and respect. Governor Perry should be ashamed but yet has been given very little reason to be. I ask: What exactly are we afraid of by not reprimanding this behavior and demanding apologies? Is allowing our President’s honor to be attacked simply to be allowed? I would hope not.
Reid Samuel, KANSAS CITY, MO.