I stand by the column - but after all of that backlash, I realize I was dead wrong. We don't have to wait until after the election for a race war. We're in one now.
I know that putting the words "race" and "war" together is like hurling an incendiary device. But I wasn't issuing a call to arms, it was a metaphorical prediction.
Kevin Ferris reflected on this idea in his latest Back Channel Column:
There was no racial angst when three black Republicans fell short in statewide races in 2006. No "Shame on you, America" when Ken Blackwell and Lynn Swann lost for governor in Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively, and Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele was defeated in his U.S. Senate race.
Among African American voters, Steele won 25 percent; Blackwell, 20 percent; Swann, 13 percent. Swann won some rural and upstate Republican counties, but was crushed in the southeast. He lost Philadelphia 89.4 percent to 10.6 percent.
What, 89 percent of Philadelphians don't like black guys?
If the imagined 'race war' conjured by this writer were to occur, she would be late to the party; as it would have started in 2006 when 3 black politicians were defeated in their quest to raise the status of African American's in the political arena.
If a writer in Philadelphia is going to be depressed when McCain/Palin marches to victory come November, have at it. Just don't label your sadness a 'race war'.
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