|
By Cynthia Annett | December 29, 2002
|
|
|
|
|
The Dec. 21 Saturday Column is right about one thing, it is about The
Golden Rule. It is about the fact that Mr. Lott has not been willing to
apply The Golden Rule to every member of our society, regardless of
race, gender, national origin, disability, veteran's status, religion,
age, or socioeconomic status. His consistent opposition to Equal
Opportunity and Affirmative Action in Senate votes is enough to show
that his remarks were not the simple slip of the tongue that the
Saturday Column implies.
Mr. Lott used race to his political advantage throughout his career,
and he used race in his controversial and widely quoted remarks, so why
should we be surprised or upset that race is now the subject of the
current debate? He framed the debate; he is not just an innocent victim
of "partisanship."
The fact that so many accomplished people have been
barred from political office for generations because they just happen
to be born black, female or disabled is what the debate is about, and
Mr. Lott has been very active in making sure those barriers remained in
place. The fact that Trent Lott "played the race card" is what brought
about his downfall; just because he played it from the side of white,
male, power and influence does not excuse him or make him innocent.
|
Originally published by the Lawrence Journal-World.
|
|
|
