About Colin Powell’s Statement

Sunday morning the former Secretary of State of the United States, Colin Powell, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama. Almost everyone knows that by now. Of course, a person, well known or not, is free to endorse and support whomever he or she wishes. But what’s remarkable about Powell’s statement of endorsement, mentioned on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” is that Powell finally asserted what should have been said months ago when the absurd bigotry of the Republican campaign strategy (as well as Sen. Clinton’s, to be candid) made “Islam,” “Arab,” “Muslim,” and even African style of dress talking points, a reason to dislike one candidate over another.

It is beyond farce that most of America’s intelligentsia and political elite did not confront the racist assumption of this strategy and thus permitted Islam (its people, heroes, names, and attire) to be linked with something vaguely or specifically undesirable, something that is “not right” for America. Our country struggles with many social issues; race and criminal violence are among the main problems that we all need to confront and work to abolish. The tenor of the campaign, however, has done much to raise racist tempers and, unfortunately, bigoted hostility.

Here is a portion of Powell’s statement: “I'm also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say, and it is permitted to be said such things as: ‘Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is: he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is: No, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she can be President? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion: he's a Muslim, and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.”

This well worded statement needs to move through American society with equal ease as the original insult. Barack Obama himself has had several opportunities to confront forcefully the assumption in “linking him with Islam.” He has tried a couple of times, but his obvious flare with language and oratory skills seemed to dip when confronting the racial bedrock of this campaign “smear.”

It must also be mentioned that while Powell’s statement is welcomed and important, we cannot forget his role in pursuing and selling the false narratives that has led to the war in Iraq, which has resulted, so far, in hundreds of thousands of lost lives (“kids” included) and has made Iraq a nation of perpetual mourning and grief. When will he speak of that?