Although Blum discusses four specific moral asymmetries, you would be well advised to memorize the following: "Some forms of racism are central and paradigmatic, others are secondary. The former have defined for us what racism is. They are tied to the rationale…for the intense moral opprobrium carried by the term 'racism.' That rationale involved oppression, hatred, and discrimination against people of color, and most especially blacks and Native Americans, by whites, not the reverse. Everything else being equal, greater moral opprobrium rightly attaches to racism by whites against people of color than the reverse. This is the most important moral asymmetry in racism." [pp. 43-44]
Finally, Senator Obama, you need to dispense with your politically motivated distancing from Rev, Wright's forthright condemnation of American racism. Instead, recall the wise words of Mark Twain: "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." Or, better yet, consider that, just days prior to his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called his mother to tell her that his next sermon would be titled: "Why America May Go to Hell."
Finally, before the three of you persist in your respective hate-mongering, racial triangulation and political retreat, consider the immortal words that Thomas Jefferson wrote about the morally debilitating impact of slavery: "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever . . .."
Wasn't Thomas Jefferson suggesting that a just God would damn America?
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