Pacific Views

Re: Dean's Confederate flag comments, I agree that he's trying to convey the right message, but I don't think he's chosen the best words to convey it in and I think he would do better to rephrase himself. For instance "Nascar Dads" conveys the same meaning without running the risk of offending African-Americans. I think most of the people whom I have seen taking issue with it are of the same view. We do not think Dean is racist or appealing to racists, but that his words carry unfortunate connotations to some people and could be better chosen.

I agree with you. And it is a very unfortunate connotation. But I'm also sympathetic to thinking that there's a segment of the American public that doesn't vote for Democrats because they've been sold a bill of goods that basically says that people of color are taking what's theirs.

Those people need to be spoken to directly, not through appealing to racism of course, but perhaps through an iconic symbol that they've come rightly or wrongly to identify with. What you and I (and I believe, correctly) perceive as racial sensitivity, some people perceive as elitism.

The most important message to convey, imo, to the voting public, is a sense of a need for a shared prosperity. When this becomes a legitimate portion of mainstream public discourse, the 'need' some people have to maintain racist divisions will fade away. Because it's all about the terror of resource scarcity and competition. It's a tool whereby we're set on each other to compete for scraps, while ignoring the sumbitches who've got the whole roast to themselves.

We can't just appeal to the people who've already figured this out.