Posted on 03/13/2003 3:23:47 PM PST by Jean S
This looming war has to be putting a strain on relationships. Indeed, the potential invasion of Iraq has become one of the subjects that can quickly turn a romantic evening into a polite good night.
She squirms when he pays attention to the news footage of the war buildup that flashes across the TV screen. Or she grimaces whenever he shares yet another conspiracy theory about why President Bush is pushing for the invasion of Iraq.
Then there's the high school student who wants to skip classes and join the anti-war protest downtown, while another child, a college student, wants to drop out of school and join the military.
And as the grandfather goes on and on about World War II, the father can't shut up about the glorious days of anti-Vietnam War protests.
While national polls show that Americans favor the military action 2-1, a closer look at the numbers shows how we are split along racial and gender lines.
The polls most often cited, by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, show that 65 percent of whites favor the war, while 25 percent oppose the planned invasion. And 56 percent of women favor the war; 32 percent do not.
The same poll shows that 48 percent of African Americans oppose military action, while 41 percent are in favor.
But if you listen to commentators on the air--and those in the barbershop--you'd think all black people are against the war.
Black Entertainment Television has apparently taken the polling data as proof that there is overwhelming opposition to the war. Thus, the station's planned coverage of the war will be tailored to give a "black perspective."
Instead of usual footage of hell and destruction, BET's correspondents will keep the heat on the Bush administration with an "Iraq: Is War the Answer?" theme for its nightly news coverage and stick close to the stories that portray a black soldier's plight.
Obviously, the gap among white Americans is wide enough to draw some conclusions. But the gap among black Americans is narrow enough to raise some questions.
After all, when that many blacks say they support a military action orchestrated by a Republican president, something is up.
"Actually, I'm surprised by that number," said Professor Howard Lindsey, chairman of the history department at DePaul University.
"It does seem high to me. On the other hand, I am 57 years old and lived through the Vietnam War. A lot of these people might be in their 20s and 30s and have nothing to compare this war to. That might explain the high number."
Lindsey is squarely in the 48 percent of African Americans who oppose the war and can rattle off a list of reasons why that include propaganda, the demonizing of Muslims and a distrust of Bush's motives.
"I don't know how we went from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein," he said. "That was quite a spin job, and a lot of people have no access to other media that aren't pushing the war. They also don't have another criteria to show them that the U.S. could be engaging in this war for something other than moral grounds, like oil."
Unlike Lindsey, I'm leaning toward the 41 percent.
I don't believe in war, but I can see the need here. I felt the same way when the Clinton administration and the United Nations failed to intervene in the murder of 800,000 Rwandans in 1994.
As America enjoyed the kind of economic boom that made it feasible to draw upon its military resources, Rwandans were slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands. I was appalled that we did nothing.
Three investigators, commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, blamed the UN's "incompetence" and the "political paralysis" of America and other superpowers for failing to stop the murders.
Had President Bill Clinton tangled with Congress the way British Prime Minister Tony Blair is now tangling with his government over Iraq, or had he lobbied the UN for a resolution to remove Hutu hard-liners, I would have proudly supported the cause.
It is, after all, ironic that the man honored by black intellectuals as the "first black president" failed to lead on an issue that was supposed to be important to many black Americans.
Any reluctance I would have now to see our nation take a proactive stand in the wake of the 911 disaster would have the stench of a double standard.
The 41 percent of black Americans who told pollsters they support the potential war aren't likely to be among the people we will hear from in the coming days. It's hard enough to talk about the potential war with family and friends without the conversation turning ugly.
That's unfortunate.
Our silence feeds the perception that black Americans are either an unpatriotic lot or apathetic about America's foreign policy. Neither is the case. Those in the black community who support this war are painfully aware that this war is unwelcome.
I don't want this war. But I can no longer stand this smell.
Idiot.
Does The Gulf War ring a bell?
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
Anybody have a direct link to "Minister" Farakahn's website.
Why not phone WLS Black Conservative talk show host (and friend of Mary Mitchell) Deborah Rowe after getting Hannitized on WLS? I would find such a conversation on talk radio interesting. Deborah Rowe was quite blunt in discussing it where she has been the featured conservative speaker at the conservative meetings I have attended.
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