Three Things Of Note Today

NPR’s Juan Williams did a report today, the point of which was to, in a sophisticated way, retell a Chris Rock joke: "I love black people, but I hate niggas." The report centered on some research from the Pew Research Center which asserted that the new differences between Americans no longer center around race, but are almost all related to class. Particularly, Williams stated that there is no longer one “African-American race” in the United States, because, somehow, shifting values among black folks have created a chasm wide enough to create a whole new race of people, distinct from each other.

Sure, there's a class divide, but a new race? Hyperbole to the extreme, says me. Lets not fool ourselves, most of us work really hard in order to craft a better life, while some are less than eager to do the same. But to suggest that just because some of us value hard work and education more than others of our same hue, we are these completely separate groups, something like homo sapiens and homo habilis, goes a bit too far.

The New York Times reports that United States Sentencing Commission, a government panel that recommends appropriate federal prison terms, reduced the amount of prison time drug dealers who peddle crack will receive on conviction. This new sentencing guideline does away with changes made in 1987 by the Reagan Administration, which resulted in lengthier sentences for crack cocaine dealers, when compared to their crack powder-dealing counterparts.

We all knew that the discrepancy was in part race-motivated, since crack was the inexpensive ghetto high of the 80's-90's, while blow was the cool weekend drug of choice for those of a lighter complexion, with bank accounts with more zeros in front of the decimal point than behind. What I didn't know was the size of the difference: a crack dealer caught with 50 grams of rocks (about 1.7 ounces -- the amount of tea leaves in most teabags) would get the same amount of time in prison as the cocaine dealer that had 5000 grams -- that's 5 kilograms -- or just over 11 pounds of fishscale in his possession.

Now the question is, whether the commission will make their rule retroactive, allowing convicts serving lengthy sentences for crack possession and/or dealing, to petition for early release. No word on that yet.

Michelle Obama, wife of the POTUS hopeful, Barack, today was quoted as saying that she thinks black folk are supporting Hillary Clinton because they believe Barack cannot win the general election. Mrs. Clinton is up by as much as 15 points among black folks, and over 20 points overall, on Obama. Of that situation, Mrs.Obama said: "That's not going to hold. Black America will wake up and get it. But what we are dealing with in the black community is the natural fear of possibility."

I love Michelle Obama! She's out there, in a Harvard Law kinda way, saying "I'ma ride or die for my man!" That's hot! I'm not advocating that people vote on racial lines. Not at all. I am advocation -- like Mrs. Obama -- that race not be the reason Democrats don't vote for  or support Obama.

More substantively, the excuse people are using for not voting for Obama is his lack of experience, having served a mere 3 years in the United States Senate. Well, that doesn't hold much water. It's never stopped voters from voting for someone before. Lest we forget, one of the greatest President's in the history of this country served barely one full term as a senator: the late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. On the other hand, look at the Cowboy President. He only served for 5 years as Texas' chief executive, and he wasn't even a good governor. Before then, he owned a baseball team, and didn't do that very well either. So what's the real reason people -- especially among his natural base -- aren't jumping on the bandwagon? Could Mrs. Obama have a valid point, that Hillary is the "safe" candidate because she's white and a Clinton? And is she really that safe? She's a mighty polarizing person.