Welcome To the Club

By: Annoyed With Things

It is a day I need to ponder the strangeness of the universe when I find myself in agreement with Spike Lee.  Now I like his movies and consider them entertaining and provocative.  I like that he likes the Knicks – my dad’s team.  The admiration pretty much stops right there.  One of the things I don’t like about Spike Lee and many other supposed voices in the black community is that I am tired of being called a racist just because I don’t agree with a particular political position or I don’t believe in a vast racist conspiracy trying to keep people down.

One of the very best things about the military is that, in my experience anyway, personnel actions – opportunities, promotions, schooling, etc., are primarily based on merit.  If you work harder, study more and go the extra mile, you will be promoted through the ranks faster than your peers and will be offered opportunities not offered to others.  I served under commanding officers and supervisors of every color, male and female.  Some were good, some were great and some just horrible but it had nothing to do with what they looked like or what part of the country they were from.

Now back to my comments.  I am not a racist.  I believe people should be held accountable for their actions.  Opportunities should be based on hard work and merit – but luck impacts us all.  We all have good days and bad days.  So I am glad to finally see that Spike Lee can admit at least some of the people disappointed in President Obama might not be racists (article here).  Can you believe the arrogance and inflexibility inherent in that concept?  To finally admit that people might be motivated by something more than the President’s race as if that was the thing that was driving opposition to his positions in the first place.  Perhaps we are not all racists; perhaps just a bit more than 50% of the voters don’t like the direction the country is going and just do not like the President’s agenda. 

I hope this is the first sign of progress – Spike Lee admitting the possibility that some people who are against President Obama’s vision of America might not be motivated by race but rather by self-interest or a simple difference of opinion.  Welcome to the club, most of us have been saying that all along.  Not all issues are so black and white.