Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Bob Stannard, a lobbyist and author. This piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
There he stands before a crowd of people at a firing range in West Monroe, La. He has a firm, two-handed grip on the pistol. The target is a silhouette of a man. He repeatedly squeezes the trigger. He doesn’t flinch. Rick Santorum has a pretty steady hand — and at least one unsteady fan. After firing a few rounds you can hear a woman’s voice, yes a woman’s voice, shout out, “Pretend it’s Obama.” Real nice.
On Feb. 26 in Miami, Fla., a 17-year-old black kid went out to get some candy at a convenience store. He was walking back home on a Sunday afternoon, listening to music and talking on his cell phone. For reasons we may never know, a captain of a neighborhood watch group saw him and called in a 911 call and said, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He’s on drugs or something.”
Minutes later Trayvon Martin was shot dead by 28-year-old George Zimmerman. Zimmerman has claimed it was self defense, even though Martin was unarmed. It’s been a month and charges have not yet been filed against Mr. Zimmerman. (Editor’s note: Zimmerman was arrested yesterday and is being charged with second degree murder. This column was written late last week.)
Now enter the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, two individuals who have either stood up for the rights of black Americans or who exploit tragic events for their own personal gain depending upon your point of view. The apparent innocent shooting of a young black man in America is, after all, good for ratings.
Like the attack on our nation on 9/11 or any other tragedy that is bestowed upon us, those in the “news business” always seem to profit. We see the same video clips over and over and over again and hear the same story a million times until we become desensitized to the horror of what happened.
Immediately upon hearing the news of Mr. Martin’s demise, celebrities and politicians came flying out of the woodwork to weigh in. Everyone from Mitt Romney to sharpshooter Rick Santorum to our president all felt compelled to condemn the violence (although in fairness to the president he was asked about it by a reporter and had not spoken out until asked). When Santorum learned of what the woman spectator said about the target at which he was shooting, he condemned the lady’s words. That was good.
Are you beginning to feel like perhaps you’re sitting through a rerun of a bad movie? You may recall the presidential elections of 2008 in which we saw the first African-American elected president of the United States. During that campaign we saw a level of racial ugliness that made most of us wince. When inappropriate comments were made they would be condemned by the opposing candidates, which was good. However, they also knew that there was a benefit to dividing people and stirring the racial pot. The politics of division works.
Some of the more naïve Americans thought that maybe once this country finally elected a black person president that perhaps we could begin the process of accepting all people for who they are. Those folks were sadly mistaken. The election of ’08 did little to curb the undertow of hate and discontent that lies just under the surface of the American psyche. Those who harbor such feeling and refuse to accept the fact that all Americans are born equal are aided and abetted by has-been rock stars like Ted Nugent. You may recall during the campaign in ’07, he put on a concert. He was decked out in full-on camouflage hunting gear and wielded two machine guns screaming, “Obama, he’s a piece of s**t. I told him to suck on my machine gun.”
He didn’t much like Hillary Clinton either. “You might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch,” he bellowed to adoring and applauding fans.
Here in Vermont most of us have a hard time relating to hate like this. We live in a rural area that is predominantly white. We don’t experience the racial tensions that exist just about everywhere; or at least so we think.
Our family helped raise a black kid from Newark. At 17 he was no different than the young lad shot in Miami. He wears a hoodie. During his time with us we witnessed racial events. They were eye openers, indeed, because we didn’t think race mattered much in Vermont. We were wrong. Race matters a lot. It matters more to some than others, that’s all. Our son-in-law is black and our granddaughter is of mixed race. It matters to us not even a little bit.
Last week Bill Maher ran a video clip that affirmed that some in this country still haven’t gotten over the Civil War. While it might be biased, it serves as a reminder of how many in this country still think.
It’s not good enough to condemn words and actions, then wink and nod. It’s time to try to find a way to unite this nation.
Nugent ended his attack by screaming “freedom,” the same word Rick Santorum’s adopted as the theme for his campaign.
