So, to the Democrats all is fair in race and war? Apparently so, if you judge by this article.
My favorite quote is this by State Delegate Salima Siler Marriott, who represents Baltimore's District 40:
Delegate Salima Siler Marriott, a black Baltimore Democrat, said Mr. Steele invites comparisons to a slave who loves his cruel master or a cookie that is black on the outside and white inside because his conservative political philosophy is, in her view, anti-black.
"Because he is a conservative, he is different than most public blacks, and he is different than most people in our community," she said. "His politics are not in the best interest of the masses of black people."
During the 2002 campaign, Democratic supporters pelted Mr. Steele with Oreo cookies during a gubernatorial debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
In 2001, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. called Mr. Steele an "Uncle Tom," when Mr. Steele headed the state Republican Party. Mr. Miller, Prince George's County Democrat, later apologized for the remark.
"That's not racial. If they call him the "N' word, that's racial," Mrs. Marriott said. "Just because he's black, everything bad you say about him isn't racial." (emphasis mine.)
I wondered about this woman, and her background. I quote from the online Maryland archives some of the highlights of her career:
Secretary, National Rainbow Coalition, 1994-96. Chair, Park Heights Development Corporation, 1986-91; National Black Women's Health Project, 1993-94. Board member, Health Education Resource Organization (HERO), Inc. Member, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; National Organization of Women; Woman Power. Co-Editor, U.S. Policy Toward Southern Africa (1984). Outstanding Teacher Award, Department of Social Work and Mental Health, Morgan State University, 1990. African-American Humanitarian Award, 1991. Senator Verda F. Welcome Political Award, 1992. Perseverance Award, Consortium of Doctors, 1992. Delegate of the Year, Middle Atlantic Division, American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, 1993. Sarah's Circle Award, College of Notre Dame of Maryland, 1994. National Legacy Award, Delta Sigma Theta, 1994. Labor Roundtable Award, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, 1999. Chairman's Meritorious Award, Maryland Legislative Black Caucus, 2000. Bold Dreamer Award, Quixote Center of Justice USA, 2002. Pacesetters Award, Women Legislators Lobby, 2003. Abolitionist of the Year Award, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, 2003.
But I think it's time to salute this woman as a pioneer, the Rosa Parks of a new generation. For she has transcended the old boundries of simple pigmentation to create a new race, one that I dub the "blue" race after the states so many of them frequent.
It's a race that, regardless of skin color, will trample any of the old racial taboos in order to keep power. One is to be shunned and blacklisted if he or she is not "blue" enough for people in this race. And if this person is among those with a higher dose of skin pigmentation so as to appear brown or even black on the outside, that is an extra reason for scorn and disdain - particularly if they happen to be successful in the political or legal fields.
And within this race there is a caste system. Those who are on the lowest rung of the ladder tend to be those who aren't successful economically, perhaps because of their education (or lack thereof) in "blue" schools, where they are taught that those of authority in the "blue" race know what's best for you, and not to listen to the Others. They're also taught how to procreate, how to have tolerance for the various shades of other people in the "blue" race, and how the world is threatened because Others are in power, including the most evil one of all, a man about whom they can only spit out his name, like a snake, "Busssssssh."
They learn that those people at the highest levels of the "blue" race are the ones who will continue to bestow gifts upon them, as long as they go out on Election Day and select the candidate with the "D" next to their name. Do not pull the lever next to the person with the "R", for they are the Others, and they will take away all that the masters of the "blue" race have given unto you, only to give that ill-gotten gain to the Others who already have far too much. And be most wary of those evil "R"s who share the same skin color if you are brown or black on the outside.
But some manage to find a way to move up in the "blue" race. They are bestowed with lower-level government jobs, many of which are there to keep the lower classes of the "blue" race in line come election time. Eventually, like a pyramid, the number of people who have status in the "blue" race dwindle to a precious few by the highest levels. Despite having the image of being for those in the "blue" race, a good many of those who are the highest of the "blues" live their lives in wealth and privilege like the Others do.
Madam Delegate Marriott is one of those who resides near the top of the pyramid. Her job is to bestow the wealth lovingly given by some in the "blue" race (and forcibly confiscated from the Others, who complain about having too much taken from them rather than keeping it in their own greedy hands) a little at a time to the lower castes of the "blue" race. It's a struggle for her to give just enough to keep the lower class "blues" voting for her, but certainly not give them enough to let them rise up the pyramid too far.
However, in some circles the "blue" race is endangered so it behooves those like Delegate Marriott to take any action they can to save their kind. Many of the Others have began to spread the word that there is another way to those of the "blue" race. And, like I noted earlier, the ones who have the most pigment in their skin but think like the Others do are looked at as the biggest threat to this "blue" race.
It's quite odd, because a lot of what the "blue" race thinks about issues affecting them places them in agreement with the Others. They would like the option of selecting a school that is not "blue." They don't always agree with the those with the most power in the "blue" race that killing their own babies should be equated with just being a choice. They don't see that civil rights necessarily extend to those in the "blue" race who want to marry another of their sex. But they still feel they have to vote for their higher-ups in the "blue" race out of loyalty or fear of what would happen if one of the Others replaced a "blue."
I know from recent experience that some in the "blue" race think I'm greedy because I'm one of the Others. But I am a tolerant man, and I do read what those in the "blue" race say. Unfortunately, they seem to think of Dr. Martin Luther King in a sideways fashion, because they feel the content of their skin should decide the color of their character, and that color is blue.
