Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Michael Potemra on 'Niggerhead'

If Perry left an old sign unchanged because it was an old sign, that’s one thing. If he left it unchanged because he approves of the social attitudes that existed in the days of institutionalized and socially empowered white racism, that’s quite another. In either case, it’s not the word on the rock that is really what we should be talking about. What does Rick Perry believe about black people? That’s the important question, and I have yet to see any evidence that his opinions on this question are racist or otherwise discreditable.

I think Michael Potemra is generally thoughtful, but I don't entirely agree. If Perry could walk or drive past an "old sign" for several decades, it is—at the very least—a sign that he's content to let the inertia of evil win out over the need to do something affirmatively good. Then again: Most of us are guilty of that most days.

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