Posted by
peripheral on Saturday, August 01, 2009 10:42:59 AM
From My Perspective - - -
Overexposure is a concern for many performers. Perhaps it would be a
good concern to be embraced by many politicians, not the least of which
is our current President. Because of a comment he made “off the cuff”
(or with his favorite prop – the Teleprompter), the focus for several
days on racial profiling and the actions of a white policeman arresting
a black professor in Cambridge, MA. In an attempt to ameliorate this
situation, the President invited Officer Crowley and Professor Gates to
the Rose Garden for a Beer Summit (and to balance the racial
components, Vice-President Biden was a late minute addition to the
Beer-garden. It was somewhat ironic that a Summit called to try and
bring some unanimity they were unable to agree on one beer to be served
– four different beverages were served (one to each person at the
table).
Did anything significant occur at this “Summit”? Was there any apology
offered by anyone about anything? Was there any agreement about
anything at all? The answer is – “No!” Many people are beginning to get
annoyed at the constant statements about racial divides and
racial-profiling in our nation. An illustration of this is: “In a March
21, 2008 syndicated column headlined "A Brief for Whitey," conservative
commentator and MSNBC contributor Patrick J. Buchanan asserted,
‘America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was
here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships,
grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian
salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity
blacks have ever known.’ Buchanan was discussing Sen. Barack Obama's
March 18 speech addressing race and controversial comments by his
former pastor, Jeremiah A. Wright. He continued, ‘Wright ought to go
down on his knees and thank God he is an American.’ Buchanan then
asserted that ‘no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than
white Americans…
Buchanan continued his statement by adding: “Barack says we need to
have a conversation about race in America. Fair enough. But this time,
it has to be a two-way conversation. White America needs to be heard
from, not just lectured to. This time, the Silent Majority needs to
have its convictions, grievances and demands heard. And among them are
these: First, America has been the best country on earth for black
folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in
slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to
Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and
prosperity blacks have ever known. Second, no people anywhere has done
more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been
spent since the '60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section
8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned
Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the
African-American community into the mainstream. Governments, businesses
and colleges have engaged in discrimination against white folks - with
affirmative action, contract set-asides and quotas -- to advance black
applicants over white applicants. Churches, foundations, civic groups,
schools and individuals all over America have donated time and money to
support soup kitchens, adult education, day care, retirement and
nursing homes for blacks. We hear the grievances. Where is the
gratitude?”
It seems there are many assumptions – the vocal minority with their
sweeping claims and indictments, and the silent majority with varying
views on race and what is fair and right for our nation. ACTS 17:24-30 is
comprehensive when it declares: "The God who made the world and
everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in
temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he
needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and
everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they
should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for
them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that
men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though
he is not far from each one of us…since we are God's offspring, we
should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or
stone--an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God
overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to
repent.” Consider these things with me.