Lessons in politics: Revisiting a boxing coach with Cynthia McKinney in mind.

Back in Trinidad when I was in high school, I fancied myself a boxer. So I would go to the gym on many an afternoon, trying to emulate the moves of the many great professionals that I had seen or read about. Sometimes I would showboat (hot-dog) , because I had quick hands and feet. To my chagrin, the coach would always admonish me to "keep it simple". I hated to hear him say that:  "just keep it simple, no need for all that fancy stuff".

Then I left high school  and  found that coach’s words could be applied to life, and usually  that the simpler you keep it the better. So after  doing my research on the latest Cynthia McKinney news-making incident, my old coach came to mind.

Wouldn’t all this have been avoided if McKinney -knowing she was wrong to traipse around a security checkpoint without visible identification for a congressperson- had simply answered and acknowledged the officer, then explained who she was, and why she had no identification on display? Especially since we now all live in a post 9-11 world. 

More than likely, the officer  would have gotten corroboration as to who she was- if he didn’t know her- and subsequently let her through. But no.                          You see, McKinney and many pols like her, suffer from a malady called : self-importance. They really believe that because they have been highlighted in media a few times, everyone knows who they are. In McKinney’s case, she arrogantly believes ( like most congressmen/women do) that membership in this elite club has special privileges. Funny thing is; she is right. Unfortuneately so.

Years ago, at the zenith of the Clarence Thomas  Supreme Court confirmation hearings, a New York newspaper  did a survey and found that nearly 3 out of 4 people riding the trains that day, had no clue as to who Clarence Thomas was. This  finding was mindboggling to say the least, given all the attention that the "Anita Hill" issue had brought. Survey after survey has shown that for the most part , people pay little attention to political stuff, and that they only get involved or attentive when the issues hit home, or close to home – like the workplace.

It was somewhat dissappointing to see people like Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte wade  in to publicly defend McKinney,  even while admitting not to have all the facts at their disposal. Many others have come to her defence, mostly claiming that if she were white, the officer would have let her through without incident. But wasn’t it Ms. McKinney who chose to escalate the physical confrontation further? And couldn’t McKinney have kept it simple by acknowledging her sidestep around the security checkpoint, then  apologising? It would have never come to this. Sometimes I wonder if some of our black leaders deliberately do things to draw media attention ?

Glover himself is no stranger to controversy. He once sensationalized the issue of New York cabbies driving the medallion-taxis, and refusing to pick up blacks ( especially at night ),  but never had the decency to say that studies have shown the drivers  who were culpable were overwhelmingly persons of color (also). Further, that it was more a question of driver- safety-perceptions rather than racial-decscrimination. I know this as fact, because I drove yellow-cabs in New York City for ten years, while putting myself through university. I worked the bases. I worked the airports and other places, and with thousands of  other drivers, the topic of safety ( primarily at night) was always discussed.  Lately, Glover seems to have become a spokesperson of sorts for issues deemed "racial". And like the Sharptons, Smileys, Jacksons, Wests,  et al , of the "black" world, seem to proffer that they speak for all (or most) blacks. Well, sorry to dissappoint you guys: you don’t speak for me, and  likewise many others that I know who think like I do do on issues of race. Racism is not only a "white" failing , its a human failing.  There are black racists , just as there are white and latino racists. And of course there are racists of other ilks, ethnicities, nationalities, colors, creeds and races.

Whenever the apologists for wrongful behavior( especially the black ones) show up in support of the  Cynthia Mckinneys, Clarence Normans and Ada Smiths of the political world , they do us all an injustice when they cry "racism". You see, they allow white men(mainly), who are -to begin with- usually in denial of racism and its many octopussian-tentacles, an opportunity  to point to incidents like these as justifications for their insidious  general denial and dissmissal.  Whenever these racial-apologists show up and further polarize or politicize the issue at hand , the first casualty is usually the biggest victim : the truth.  And for those who seek truth, its usually better if we just keep things simple.

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