McCain and MLK

OPINION:

Some observers may have been surprised on Friday to see Sen. John McCain among the presidential candidates participating in activities surrounding the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., last Friday. I wasn’t.

In his remarks, Mr. McCain boldly admitted the “mistake” he made by voting against 1983 legislation to make King’s birthday a federal holiday. A few “Monday morning quarterbacks” criticized the remarks as they fell short of an actual apology. Apologize for what? I commend Mr. McCain for attending the event and not bowing to pressure to grandstand. An apology wasn’t needed. It would’ve amounted to nothing more than a pathetic attempt at pandering (something Democrats have down to a science). Mr. McCain made the best decision at the time with what was happening, gave an explanation for it and not long after the vote he reversed course and worked to have the holiday implemented. Enough said. No need for the hypercritical heckling from the crowd.

So just what was behind this heckling and booing? Some might argue, displaced anger or bitterness. My question is why are some black folks still so bitter and so angry? Why is that resentment routinely taken out on one set of white politicians and not another? Both political parties have racist pasts. Furthermore, have we learned nothing from King about such anger?

This anger shows up in the calls I routinely get about Republicans snubbing or not liking black people because they won’t address liberal black audiences, or because Mr. McCain turned down an interview with a black radio host — he must “be afraid of black people,” as one black journalist put it to me recently. Wow. Now that’s a stretch. Maybe, just maybe, it had more to do with the host and his brand of “objective journalism,” than his color. And funny, I didn’t hear these same journalists calling Sen. Barack Obama a racist for consistently refusing to appear on Chris Wallace’s “Fox News Sunday” show, after repeated invitations from the host. Is Mr. Obama afraid of white people? Of course not. Maybe he just doesn’t care for certain ones.

It’s a wild guess, but these cynics of Mr. McCain might want to consider that perhaps he turned down the request because — as Black Enterprise magazine pointed out — close to 90 percent of blacks polled will vote Democrat this election and that his advisors likely recognize the strategic futileness of talking to a host who hates Republicans and regularly gives his audience new reasons not to vote for one. Not to mention, Mr. McCain’s time would likely be better spent “reaching out” to an audience he has a better shot of getting more votes from, i.e. Hispanics, Independents and his own black Republican base. Of the 10 percent of blacks who will likely vote for Mr. McCain, it won’t be because he showed up at an NAACP convention, but because he supports policies that aren’t designed to simply pacify black folks. Policies that preserve the values of commonsense Americans, and speak to conservative, independent-minded black folks.

I am curious to know how much time Sen. Hillary Clinton or Mr. Obama has spent speaking to the Conservative Political Action Committee or Values Voter Summit? Or how about a group of black college Republicans? None. It’s not their targeted constituency and I’m not angry about it. Neither should black Democrats, journalists, or cynics, be about Mr. McCain and the Republican Party. It’s called political expediency.

So some might question why Mr. McCain would even address the crowd at the Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, only to get heckled by people who don’t support him in the first place. For many reasons, I would argue that Mr. McCain’s address served an important purpose beyond race. He didn’t go to Memphis in attempt to pander or garner votes, but to honor the legacy of a unifier. It was the right thing to do.

As Mr. McCain acknowledged: “We can all be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing, and Dr. King understood this about his fellow Americans.” In fact King opened his arms to those who erred and admonished us all, “Not drink from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” King combated anger with forgiveness. He demanded that no one be judged by the color of their skin. So, I would challenge black cynics to judge Mr. McCain on “the content of his character, not the color of his skin.”

Judge him on his record — not rhetoric or because he didn’t show up at some opportunistic event or do an interview with the “right” black person. Judge him on the merits of whether you support his ideas, policies and positions. If you look beyond Mr. McCain’s skin color (and his notorious temper), you might get some insight into his character. In his book “Character Is Destiny,” Mr. McCain devotes a chapter on “Forgiveness” to Nelson Mandela, a chapter on “Idealism” to Sojourner Truth and a chapter on “Fairness” to Martin Luther King Jr. Fairness — what a concept.