Why D.W. Griffith Would Approve Of The McCain Campaign

In 1915, D.W. Griffith’s film The Birth Of A Nation premiered as one of the first feature length films that has, over time, garnered critical acclaim and been noted by critics and historians as a piece of great cultural significance. Adapted from the novel, “The Clansman” Its story revolves around America in the waning days of the Civil War and the burgeoning of Reconstruction, painting a glowing picture of the antebellum south while disparaging the ideals of Reconstruction era whites and propagating the opinion that blacks were inferior. It is a movie that glorifies and romanticizes the rise and purpose of the Ku Klux Klan skewing history as such to portray them as a noble organization of righteous men who sought to protect the honor of the south.

Its plot focuses on the savagery of a murderous freed former slave named Gus and his pursuit of a white woman whom he intended to rape and the rise of the noble Klan who come to defend her honor. Upon its showing, whites were known to have hunted down and lynched blacks (this happened after a screening in Lafayette, Indiana), and was fodder for rioting in several cities. Its subtext was clear, blacks will know their place and we (the whites) will show them if they get out of line.

Woodrow Wilson hosted a private screening of the film for his cabinet and assembled guests after which he is quoted as saying, “It is like writing history with lightning.”

Though The Birth Of A Nation was only one film, it encapsulated and articulated the prevailing thoughts of many whites of the day. That the negro population was dangerous and, particularly, black men were not to be trusted by instead controlled. That if black men were to accost white women, in any way, it was the duty of white men to defend their honor and subsequently dispatch of black men through various means of violence and intimidation and this was justifiable grounds for lynching.

Griffith’s message was clear; white men can use any means to protect white women.

This message was sent to the residents of Rosewood, Florida.

This message was sent to Emmit Till.

OJ Simpson didn’t get the memo.

Now let’s fast forward to two weeks ago.

I recalled before sitting in an airport listening to an older white man telling his son how much of a brilliant pick Sarah Palin was for Vice President and how I decided to debate him on the merits and the facts leading him to come up short. I thought I won the argument. But I was wrong.

The Republicans have deployed what can easily referred to as the D.W. Griffith strategy when pitting Sarah Palin against Barack Obama. That is to say that, anytime Obama accosts or makes an affront to Palin, they will drag out the sexism card as a ploy to revert minds back the culture wars of the early part of the twentieth century. It is clear, it is apparent, and it is dangerous.

“How dare he speak of our beautiful white woman that way?”

All the while, distracting the American people from the prevailing issues so that we can focus on lipstick and pigs.

I’ve seen this movie before.

I’m not promoting a separatist agenda or saying that black men and white women can’t or shouldn’t have positive interactions in our society. We do, and that’s what makes this strategy so disturbing. By appealing to what has been a taboo by couching it in another wrong, the McCain campaign has shielded themselves from playing the card on face value, but instead doubling down and letting people draw their own conclusions. They’ve hidden it in coded language and have gone so far with the insult as to say that Sarah Palin is somehow sacred and that all those who would clamor to merely speak to her are really just out to destroy her.

She’s the white princess and Obama, as portrayed in another McCain campaign ad is the black wolf. Now, the political forces of the right have a justification for their cultural lynching of Barack Obama and they can simply cry “sexism” when really they’re speaking to the base level of bigots and pseudo-racists who would believe it to be true.

Nah, I ain’t playin’ that shit.

In order for us to move into a post-racial society, we gotta put all our cards on the table and we have to be honest with one another. We cannot a legitimate claim of sexism to be bastardized by an illegitimate front for racism. We do women a disservice and we cause African Americans an injustice. Playing into taboos and wallowing in old-think isn’t the change that we need. It’s a reversion to the days when black men and white women existed behind a barrier of oppression that pit them against each other to perpetuate it power.

Don’t be fooled.

We don’t live in a world where this kind of thing makes the front page of the paper, and most pundits and talking heads are either too blind, too stupid, or too scared to call it what it is. If you see Rick Davis (John McCain’s campaign manager) or Karl Rove on the street or have their email addresses, pass this along to them and tell them that we’re not playing that game anymore.

I just hope someone else out there is paying attention.

Why I Quit The Republican Party… Or How They Quit Me

They finally did it.

They lost me.

After being intently focused on the Democratic National Convention last week for both its historic implications as well as tangential story lines, I felt that this week’s Republican Convention would serve as a counter balance with an equally, albeit different, and yet compelling narrative about what Republican leadership in America would mean in the next four years.

Admittedly, things started off a bit slow with Hurricane Gustav impeding the first night, however I expected to see what the tone and overall theme of the convention would be on Tuesday evening with some anticipation.

Unfortunately, I was gravely disappointed.

After last week’s showing in Denver which highlighted the Democratic Party’s commitment to diversity not only in thought and opinion, but also in personage and ethnicity, the Republicans failed to show any diversity in any respects.

I’m through with them.

The fact that this historic juncture in America’s history was so overlooked as to not allow the Republicans to fine one brown face, one voice of seeming dissent, or one person who didn’t look like “one of them” to be highlighted or even seen is beyond a disappointment. Its an insult. As I panned the audience I was shocked to see that there was an overrepresentation of old white men and an underrepresentation of of just about everyone else.

How can this be?

How could they even allow this to happen this time?

What were they thinking?

Obviously they weren’t thinking statistically. In a country where minorities are quickly becoming a majority and African American and Hispanic populations continue to swell, the idea of reaching out to roughly 35% of the population must have been a reach for them. Instead, they seem to want to latch on to “culture” and “taxes” voters and hope that they don’t see through this sham that is inculcated and institutionalized exclusion on the part of the country’s political system. Add to that the fact that they would choose to denigrate opposing views of American values as being somehow unpatriotic doesn’t just smack of arrogance, it is increasingly jingoistic and racist.

Yeah, I said it.

The Republicans have decided to run a campaign of exclusion and choose an “Us vs. Them” strategy with the “Us” being the so called white mainstream and the “Them” being the increasing diversity of the population of America.

I can’t stand for that.

I can’t stand with that.

I’m Corey Richardson and I don’t approve that message.

Where’s JC Watts? Where’s Michael Steele? Where are the brown faces they drag out when its time to push an issue that throws black people under the bus? Can you at least try to fool me this time? Or do me and those like me just not matter? Is there such a sense of strife in America that this election is devolving into the fight for the future as they see it vs. who we see it?

I hope not.

But then again, what should I have expected… These people have finally taken off their masks to expose their faces (or white hoods, I can’t be sure) and all I’m waiting for now is for someone to get frustrated and just say, “WE CAN’T LET THIS NIGGER WIN” on camera so I can finally be justified.

Sarah Palin is a self avowed redneck.

Fred Thompson called for a new culture war in America.

Karl Rove wants us to see Barack Obama as an Uppity Negro and wants people to put him in his place.

The whole thing makes me sick.

Now the question is, what side do you stand on?

When they say "throw your hands in the air" at this party, they're probably arresting you