Lonzie Cox – 6/5/08

This page was last updated on June 7, 2008.

Bridging race and politics; Lonzie Cox, Jr.; Beaver County Times; June 5, 2008. I am not related to Mr. Cox.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“U.S. Sen. Barack Obama began his campaign for president determined to not let race and racism play a decisive role.”

[RWC] What credible evidence does Mr. Cox have to support his assertion?

“It took the muckraking right-wing Republican media no time to stop all that foolishness by unearthing the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons. What freedom of religion? Hah! What freedom of speech?”

[RWC] Apparently Mr. Cox forgot his own letter entitled “Rendell wasn’t far off base” written about two weeks before we heard of Mr. Wright. You see, Mr. Cox wrote about PA Gov. Ed Rendell’s comment that “You’ve got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate.” Mr. Rendell clearly was playing race and I believe it’s safe to say he isn’t part of “the muckraking right-wing Republican media.”

Unless you consider Brian Ross and ABC News part of “the muckraking right-wing Republican media,” I believe Mr. Cox’s “side of the aisle” introduced us to Mr. Wright and his sermons. Have you noticed that some folks have the need to blame their perceived failures on others?

What did informing us of Mr. Wright’s sermons have to do with the freedoms of speech and religion? No one claimed Mr. Wright didn’t have the right to say what he said. Mr. Cox apparently believes the freedoms of speech and religion mean everyone must either accept your positions or at least not speak out in opposition to them. Unlike Mr. Cox, I believe we’re all responsible for what we say.

The bottom line is, Mr. Cox doesn’t want anything reported about Mr. Obama or his entourage that is not flattering. You may recall Mr. Cox previously was upset the press reported what Mr. Obama himself had said at a fundraiser.

“The fact that U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, in desperation, fully embraced the race-baiting techniques of the Jim Crow era has been very discouraging, as well as unexpected for a person of her status.”

[RWC] Mr. Cox mentions “the Jim Crow era,” but fails to note Jim Crow laws were the product of Southern Democrats. One of the first – if not the first – attempt to kill the Jim Crow laws was the Civil Rights Act of 1875, introduced by two Republicans.

“[U]nexpected for a person of her status?” Is Mr. Cox kidding? Right next-door in West Virginia we have U.S. Senator Robert Byrd (D). Mr. Byrd was a Kleagle (organizer) in the KKK, referred to “white niggers” during a 2001 television interview, and yet has served in the Senate longer than anyone.

“It was unexpected because in the Clinton White House years, President Bill Clinton was viewed as a rock solid supporter of racial justice and civil rights, positions that were a source of much of the hatred that dogged his presidency.”

[RWC] Even after all he saw during the primary campaign, Mr. Cox stills believes this fiction? Does Mr. Cox actually believe people opposed Mr. Clinton’s political agenda because they opposed “racial justice [whatever that is] and civil rights?” What exactly did Mr. Clinton do for “racial justice [whatever that is] and civil rights?”

Mr. Cox clearly believes the myth of Democrats and civil rights while ignoring the record of Republicans.

“In 1997, Clinton formed his Advisory Board on Race. He called on average Americans ‘to begin a national conversation on race.’ One of the first to respond was former state Rep. Mike Veon.

“Veon used his office to introduce legislation directing the governor to establish a commission on race relations. He followed that up by forming the Beaver Race Initiative Development Group Effort. The stated role of BRIDGE was racial unification and reconciliation.”

[RWC] I don’t know the stated role of BRIDGE, but I don know it allowed Mr. Veon to hand out a bunch of t-shirts with his name on them. I still see them on folks when I’m at the YMCA. It’s kind of convenient how BRIDGE resulted in campaign advertising for Mr. Veon, isn’t it?

“Veon felt the effort was needed because Clinton thought so and because Pennsylvania was at or near the top of the hate-crime statistics and discrimination complaints. All this was going on while the country was acting as though all was going well for everybody, everywhere.

“Veon put himself on the line in 1998, and it’s not too late to acknowledge his effort to do something about a problem he saw then — and that persists even in the 2008 contest between Clinton and Obama, and now U.S. Sen. John McCain.”

[RWC] You’ll note Mr. Cox doesn’t tell us what Messrs. Clinton and Veon accomplished with their Advisory Board on Race and BRIDGE.

“Will race ever subside as a political issue, or will it continue to ruin a great country? We shall see.”

[RWC] I suspect most people who have followed Mr. Cox’s letters over at least the last four years are laughing out loud at this paragraph, or their mouths are hanging open in disbelief. Why? His letters consistently indicate Mr. Cox sees the world through a prism of race and the issues of race and politics form the basis for most of his letters. Race won’t ever “subside as a political issue” as long as folks like Mr. Cox keep promoting race as a political issue.