As
I watched segments of the GOP National Convention, a disturbing thought lingered: "This is not my America."
In
fact, I wondered how anyone seeing the tsunami of whiteness that filled the
Tampa Convention Center
could
have been comfortable with the absence of color among delegates and attendees.
Oh, the occasional brown celebrity-former Secretary of State Condoleeza
Rice, ex-Democratic congressman, Artur
Davis, Sher Valenzuela, the Delaware GOP candidate for lieutenant governor,
Lucà © Vela Fortuno ,
the first lady of Puerto Rico and others were
strategically propped on stage.
But the smattering of color didn't erase the fact that, out of the GOP reported
2,286 convention delegates, only 47 were African
American.
Was
this your America?
When
groups gather by race, gender or ethnicity-be they black, white, brown or "other"-the
intent is clear; they congregate to express and discuss true feelings, issues,
passions and strategies relevant to the dominating assemblage. The overwhelming,
homogenous horde at the GOP Convention
added suspect undertones to party chants
and slogans. There is a divisive civil war-era connotation when Americans use
"USA, USA, USA-- to beat back the criticism of fellow Americans. When a
segregated group screams "We're taking back America," it begs us to question who's
the "we" and "back to what?"
The
convention, complete with red, white and blue fervor reminded me of my father's
America. Born in the 1930s in Little Rock, Arkansas, remnants of the segregated
south were etched into my father's soul. It was evident in the way he hesitated
to look white people in the eyes and how he instinctively felt the need to step
off the curb or step aside when we passed whites on the street. My father's
America, like his father's, was seared with the blood-red desire to "take
America back," to keep blacks "in their place" and restore privilege and
power to whites who felt disenfranchised by the evils of emancipation and
court-ordered mandates for integration and equal rights.
The
America represented at the 2012 GOP Convention was fortified with illusion,
confusion and big money collusion. It was a scene where the growing poor and
"near poor," the unemployed and underemployed, the uninsured and those
receiving so-called "entitlements," felt on par with the country's richest and
most powerful politicians, profit-focused corporations and billionaire secret
donors. A buffet of old ideas-less corporate regulations, less taxes for the
rich, less benevolence for the poor and more reliance on trickle-down
economics-was served as universal remedy for the nation's economic woes. Few
noticed the buffet was really the warmed-over recipe that led us into the Great
Recession.
It didn't matter. With Kid Rock's "Born Free" as its theme, conventioneers
swallowed any lie as long as the wretched name "Obama" was attached. The party
faithful clung to the sound bites of politicians who vowed to overturn
"Obamacare" even though the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the legislation.
It
was a zone where hard-line policy tea-drinkers convinced that undocumented
immigrants are stealing their jobs and overrunning their country welcomed their
nominee, Mitt Romney- the candidate who,
days before ,
declared; "No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate." It
was a subtle, codified nod to those who believe the White House is occupied by a
foreigner.
Despite
the facade of solidarity, Rice, Davis, Valenzuela and other
dignitaries of color must have experienced that familiar but awkward "I'm the only
minority in the room" feeling. Recollections of segregation had to have risen
when they heard about conventioneers emboldened
enough to chuck nuts at a black CNN camerawoman while taunting; "this is
how we feed the animals." Surely, the high-profile minorities,
along with the millions who watched the 4-day spectacle via television, laptop,
cell phone or tablet screen, must have cringed.
The
2012 Democratic
National Convention kicks off this week. David Bositis, senior political analyst for the Joint Center for
Political and Economic Studies, predicts that at least 40 percent of the
Democratic delegates will be comprised of minority groups. Love or despise
President Barack Obama, support or condemn his progress and policies, his Party's
shindig will be representative of the America that I envision for my kids and
grandkids.
As
the Romney/Ryan yacht cruised along the convention's calm waters of whiteness, the
presidential nominee felt entirely comfortable telling the crowd: "Now is the moment when we can stand up and say,
"I'm an American"!' "
Well,
Mr. Romney, I'm already a proud-standing American but the vision of our that you
represent and promote simply isn't my America.
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