Former President of the United States Barack Obama recently offered the following comments concerning Republican candidates for the presidency.
- “And so if a Republican, who may even be sincere in saying, ‘I want us all to live together,’ doesn’t have a plan for how do we address crippling generational poverty that is a consequence of hundreds of years of racism in this society, and we need to do something about that. If that candidate is not willing to acknowledge that, again and again, we’ve seen discrimination in everything from … getting a job to buying a house to how the criminal justice system operates.”
- “If somebody’s not proposing, both acknowledging and proposing, elements that say, ‘No, we can’t just ignore all that and pretend as if everything’s equal and fair. We actually have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.’ If they’re not doing that, then I think people are rightly skeptical.”
Mr. Obama will never know when things are “equal and fair” so long a people (of any skin color) claim things are not “equal and fair.” How are “equal and fair” proven to the satisfaction of those who insist they are victims?
Laws have been in place since the early 1960’s for every individual to demand civil rights in the courts. If you complain that people should not have to go to court to prove they were treated unfairly, then your rhetoric, Mr. Obama, only serves to maintain victim status in the minds of the aggrieved. Government and laws cannot coerce conscience.
At this point and forward, the answer to your concerns lies only in the hearts and minds of each individual. Like Senator Tim Scott, each individual has a responsibility to face down discrimination, rise above their circumstances and, most importantly, seize the opportunity to do so in our free society.
Resolution of your concerns, Mr. Obama, lies not in the victim hood you promote, but in honesty, hard work, and a refusal to accept defeat. Tim Scott represents what is achievable for anyone willing to go down the positive path. You, to the disappointment of many, missed the opportunity to be that example.