For anyone who though the election of Obama would have put an end to racial politics only had to look at the hand wringing some commentators have made of the appointment of Bill Richardson as Commerce Secretary. Richardson was an early supporter of Obama, cutting ties with the Clinton Clan when he endorsed Obama at a key moment in the election. There had been rumblings in the blog ether that Richardson would be a logical choice for Secretary of State. When Hillary Clinton was mention, then named as the Secretary of State, a cry rose out from the land saying how wrong it was for her to get the post when Richardson was a better choice. In the word of one commentator the Commerce Secretary post is chopped liver.

Amazing since the same commentator admitted that four years ago when Bush put a Hispanic American in the same post he though that was a wise choice.

The news shows have been blazed with Hispanic commentators sounding like black commentators from many previous elections, especially when there was a Democrat in office. Everyone is looking for the symbol to put into the post, which might be an argument some would say happened with this President. The difference is we all went into a voting booth and made a choice for President, when you are making an appointment for an office you're trying to find people who are a good fit and can work on your policies as President.

While I can see the merits of having Richardson in State, and he is definitely qualified for that, Commerce is very important right now because of our economy. We are going to need to make trade alliances, especially with countries in this hemisphere. That means Central and South American countries and frankly, having someone of Hispanic decent and who comes from a state that has to deal with Hispanic affairs makes a lot of sense. As another example, Janet Naploitano of Arizona was named as head of Homeland Security and made sense since her state deals with a large Hispanic population and an immigration issue. Having Homeland Security and Commerce from states where illegal immigration is an issue, the changes of getting policies modified or changed to fit the reality of immigration today makes more sense than ever.

This isn't something that will make everyone happy. I remember when Marshall left the Supreme Court and many considered it the 'black justice' post and they weren't going to be happy unless a black was put in the slot. Yeah, they got Thomas and they still weren't happy because he wasn't the 'right type of black.' When Obama was running early on, not a lot of black people gave him a chance of becoming President, yet when he won the election there was Jesse Jackson and others who opposed his nomination in the beginning who were crying along with a lot of America happy with the outcome.

We really need to move beyond race and quotas in political appointments, which is really what a lot of the Hispanic leaders seem to suggest.

<< PREVIOUS
NEXT >>

Copyright © Chaotic Fringe LLC. All rights reserved.

Racial Politics is Alive and Well - Dec 10, 2008
Home | News | Entertainment | Blog | Podcast | IMVN | Everquest 2 | Links | Photos | V-Blog