You may recall this post from three months ago, which concerned someone unexpectedly performing “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” in place of a tradition version of the National Anthem. In light of this more recent news from Virginia (via Matt Yglesias), it’s good to revisit the issue.
Bobby May is part of the McCain-Palin Virginia Leadership Team and Treasurer of the Buchanan County (VA) Republican Party. The L.A. Times describes describes a piece he wrote as a supposed parody of the Obama platform.
A local newspaper columnist, in a spoof of Obama’s platform, wrote in one recent piece that the Democrat would hire the rapper Ludacris to paint the White House black (a reference to a pro-Obama song by Ludacris), and divert more foreign aid to Africa so “the Obama family there can skim enough to allow them to free their goats and live the American Dream.” He joked that Obama would replace the 50 stars on the U.S. flag “with a star and crescent logo,” an Islamic symbol, and that his policy on drugs would be to “raise taxes to pay for Obama’s inner-city political base.”
Oh, and he also said Obama supports the teaching of Mandatory Black Liberation Theology classes in all churches and the appointment of Al Sharpton as Secretary of State.
Of course, one might attempt to counter this story by noting the recent apology from the Dallas Mavericks’ Josh Howard.
Howard was speaking to media members for the first time since his July rant at a charity event. When “The Star-Spangled Banner” was playing, he said that he doesn’t celebrate the song because he’s black. The video eventually made it onto YouTube.
His comments seemed to go something like this:
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is going on. I don’t celebrate this shit. I’m black, God dammit. Obama ‘08. Obama and all that shit.
So, we have comments from Bobby May and Josh Howard. We can take them equally seriously, or we can pass them off as stupidity and ignorance (or at least carelessness).
But the question remains about where one places one’s allegiance regarding self and country. Whites may believe that blacks have a higher allegiance to their race than their country and their fellow non-black countrymen. African Americans may believe that America has never treated them in a way that engenders respect and therefore self-reliance is paramount.
What does seem clear to me is that the notion that Barack Obama has some secret plan to take over the country and let it be run by the Black Panthers (or Al-Qaeda, depending on your thinking) seems nuts to me.
P.S. If the rumors were true, then Obama would hire George Clinton to paint the White House black.
Tags: Barack Obama, Bobby May, Josh Howard, Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing