THE POLITICAL ANIMAL

There’s been some controversy over a passage from the benediction given by civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery at President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Here’s the passage in question:

“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right.”

Some people – mostly conservatives – are accusing Lowery of “race-baiting” and claim that his words were “divisive.” Others say Lowery was “just poking fun at racial stereotypes.”

The passage is a play on some lyrics from the song “Black, Brown, and White” by blues singer Bill Broonzy. Here’s how his version goes:

They says, “if you was white, should be all right,
If you was brown, stick around,
But as you’s black, hmm brother, get back, get back, get back”

Interestingly, Broonzy makes no mention of “yellow” and “mellow” in his song. That being said, I found Lowery’s remark about Asians odd, since I hadn’t realized these particular Americans had gained a reputation for being noisy and pushy. I wonder if Lowry is referring to the often tense relationship between blacks and Asians in this country, where the latter run many of the grocery stores found in poor black neighborhoods.

In any case, if this is Lowery’s idea of humor, then it’s not very funny.

As for Lowery’s line about whites embracing “what is right,” I’m not sure I would call it “racist,” but it seemed inappropriate and outdated, nonetheless. Someone needs to remind the good reverend that we’re not living in the 1960’s anymore. A lot has changed since the days of Jim Crow. For instance, despite the never-ending warnings about a “Bradley Effect” during the 2008 election, more whites voted for Obama than the last Democratic candidate, white bread John Kerry. Then again, I don’t know that I would say that voting for Obama was necessarily the “right” thing to do, considering his views on certain issues.

Richard Arrington, first Black mayor of Birmingham, Ala., (once known as “Bombingham” during the Civil Rights Era) told ABC33/40 “he believes critics fail to understand the intent of the prayer– that race will no longer be an issue.”

If this is the case, then Rev. Lowery should have chosen his words more carefully. I wonder how he and his supporters would have liked it if Pastor Rick Warren, in an attempt at humor, had included these words in his inaugural prayer:

“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black won’t be so slack, when brown won’t keep us down, and when the red man won’t scalp a head, man.”

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