On Television: Hoping For MLK's Color Blind Society

Last night Chris Berg invited me to participate in a round table discussion about race and the civil rights movement, which are good topics for Martin Luther King day obviously.

Part one is above, you can watch part two here.

It was an interesting discussion (I found some common ground with left-wing activist Cindy Gomez Schempp when it comes to marijuana legalization against North Dakota Tea Party Caucus leader Leon Francis), but the main point I wanted to get across was about how we’ve lowered the bar for racism so low that it’s become a caricature. It’s hard to have meaningful discussions about race when every political narrative is imbued, fairly or not, with racial questions and when accusations of racism seem to be the foundation of every political criticism.

MSNBC hosts can’t seem to talk about conservatives without accusations of racism. President Obama can’t seem to talk about his plunging approval numbers without playing the race card.

Martin Luther King called for a society where we looked beyond race. It’s hard to see that happening race is a political football used to deflect criticism or advance agendas.