Thursday, June 10, 2010

Alvin Greene Speaks: If he was White, would we be having this conversation?

I've been scratching my head about this Alvin Greene story. Now I'm hearing the brother who looks like Simon Adebisi straight out of the HBO series Oz, has a pending felony charge which involves pornography?! Not that the felony charge is surprising; hell, 9 out of 8 black men are felons; and this is South Carolina we're talking about here.

Like most people I have my questions about the guy and just how exactly did he manage to pull off the the seemingly impossible. How does a guy without a job run for the U.S. Senate without as much of a peep being said about it in the media before now? Given the state of the United States  economy and the 11.7% unemployment rate in South Carolina, surely this guy's story would have been one for the ages before now.

Instead, we're all left to wonder if he's the new Manchurian Candidate, or the latest Kenyan-born brother with political aspirations to hit the scene. So where did he come from? Where did he get his money? How did he do it? All questions inquiring minds would love to know; but, he isn't saying much other than that he has no intentions of dropping out of the race. And quite frankly, I don't think he should. Why should he have to?


Why should he be forced to drop out? There are no laws against felons running for federal office. And further, he hasn't been convicted of any crimes. But don't tell that to South Carolina Democratic Chairperson, Carol Fowler who in a press release said, "We are proud to have nominated a Democratic ticket this year that, with the apparent exception of Mr. Greene, reflects South Carolina's values."

Ouch!

Now I'm not from South Carolina, nor am I privy to their value system. So the above statement of the Democratic Chairperson has me reaching in my back pocket for one of those race cards. Y'all know me; like American Express, I never leave home or blog without them. So, with everything being equal, and if Greene was a white man, would she (and others) feel the same way?

Could it be that the shadow of doubt cast upon him lies in the obvious cultural archetype that is the criminal Black man? I mean after all, it's not like he's the exceptional half-white politician who comes out of nowhere only to end up winning the presidency of the United States of America, no?

Apture

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