by CJ Clark, Columnist & Featured Contributor
[su_dropcap style=”flat”]T[/su_dropcap]HE PEOPLE OF Charleston Emanuel AME Church are a class act. The families of the victims who forgave the shooter have more heart that most of us. The city and the community came together to mourn. Each has demonstrated what it really means to be Christian. I am in awe of them and hope if I ever found myself in such a sad place that I could reach down and find forgiveness instead of anger.
This could have been a microcosm of the United States. Six years ago, we elected the first African American president on a campaign of hope and change. This man held the ability to unite the country in his hands; he could have truly brought change.
Instead, he brought divisiveness. He has added fuel to each racial fire that has erupted and we’ve had our share in the past six years. Back in 2009, he started down the road of declaring that African Americans and Latinos were disproportionately arrested after police arrested and African American professor in his home. Back then, President Obama did begin his comments by stating that all the facts were not yet known. At least he was being somewhat reluctant to convict without evidence. Investigation into the incident found both Gates and the arresting officer had contributed to the bad situation through their own lack of judgment. Both. What a concept!
President Obama had the chance to rise above race when Trayvon Martin was killed. Instead he drew a line in the cultural sand by claiming the young black man could have been his son. His justice department jumped into the mix of a local investigation and the media took it all as fodder to press the issue of race.
A month after the shooting of Michael Brown, the President again aligned himself with young black men who were “judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness.” He could have told those who were holding up their hands saying “don’t shoot” that their behavior was premature and not helpful. He could have asked the country to wait until the facts were known. He could have served as a model of reason for those same young black men along with the rest of the world. He didn’t. He sent emissaries to Michael Brown’s funeral.
Equal Opportunity Outrage
Our President is pretty quick to express outrage
at these situations, fanning the fires set by the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Where is his outrage when the assailant is a minority, as in the case of Kathryn Steinle, shot by an illegal immigrant in San Francisco while touring the pier with her father? Where is his outrage when four white Marines are gunned down by an Islamic man?
Obama didn’t send emissaries to James Foley’s funeral. He didn’t attend the funeral of the highest ranking military officer killed in combat in a half-century, Major General Harold J. Green. Nor did he attend Margaret Thatcher’s funeral.
What outrage will we see from our President when a young woman is shot by an illegal immigrant? More than likely, he’ll preach gun control, like that’s going to help.
What outrage did we see when four of his Marines – yes, he is the Commander in Chief and they are his Marines – were shot by an Islamic man (I’m not using the word terrorist, because they have not yet definitively determined that)? Oh, he was sharing a note about Ramadan with those in the Muslim community.What will he do to honor these young white men? I suppose that’s a rhetorical question. We probably know the answer.
What a Missed Opportunity
Mr. Obama, you missed the chance of a lifetime – to use your position as the most powerful elected official in the world to unite rather than divide. Why could you not have started down the same path as the Charleston community back in 2005 when you first stepped into the Oval Office. Instead, you poured gasoline on a fire that had been trying to die out. Shame on you.
