Courier Opinion - July 31, 2008

The issue of race is too important to be putting the N-word out there

Democrats Calling
By JOE CALIENDO

    I have been a Monmouth County resident for 73 years and I think I know a few things about this county.
    I believe what Mr. Art Gallagher has said about blacks is racist. I believe that Mr. Gallagher is using the N-word to try and remind people that Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is a black man, since Mr. Gallagher is such a big fan of Republican Candidate John McCain.
    Mr. Gallagher has used the N-word, saying that he is trying to start a "conversation" but that is not what it does - talk about this word from Republican political circles does nothing but start problems with race. It's not helpful, but it does say something about racism in the argument going on in those circles.
    The N-word is not OK. It is not going to be OK, for any purpose at all. In my town, which is Middletown, there are not many black families. In fact, 95 percent of the population is white. But that doesn't mean that anyone would want to start something with an entire segment of the population for the sake of politics in November, which is what this is.
    The president of the Greater Long Branch NAACP is Lorenzo W. Dangler, who has been a good friend of mine for several years now. Mr. Dangler has been a productive part of the 'discussion' about race. He has helped put black and white kids through college with his branch's college tuition fund. He has helped re-direct kids off the streets and away from the gangs, and has created something good in their lives. Mr. Dangler has worked to get better jobs for blacks in his community, which is Long Branch, and he runs racial diversity workshops and diversity training classes in public schools and colleges. That is what I call doing something positive about race, not using the N-word and trying to start this "Take an N-word to Lunch Day," which is not an answer. It is an insult to blacks and whites and this man is trying to start an argument, not a discussion.
    It's politics, politics and more politics, but this time it involves race, which is a terrible thing.
    I speak for myself as a Democrat in saying that this is not a party issue. In no way is the N-word acceptable and I am in full agreement with President Dangler about this issue. President Dangler has made it clear that this kind of speech, especially publicly, is wrong and I don't believe anyone can have any problem with that. Even though there are many issues that still have to be addressed between blacks and whites, I think the use of the N-word as being acceptable speech is not an issue. It is not against the law to use the N-word, it just shows a total lack of class. Things have to be sorted out between blacks and whites, but this isn't the way to go about it.
    Issues are going to have to be dealt with, and there will not always be agreement between a majority of the black and white communities, but something like Mr. Gallagher and these other Republicans trying to make the N-word OK is just disgraceful - here or anywhere else.
    Proof of this whole thing being political is this "Take an N-word for Lunch Day." This is not a constructive comment, it is Mr. Gallagher mocking blacks openly and trying to get white people to go along with the joke on the Internet.
    Mr. Gallagher helped to create a lot of Republican office holders in this county with that blog. What I want to know is just what these office holders, who are now our public leaders many of them, think about what their best supporter is putting out there by way of race and if they are in agreement with this plan of Mr. Gallagher's? I would like to know what the new Republican Chairman, Mr. Joe Oxley, thinks about this, since it is not Democrats talking about this race issue. This issue was created by Mr. Gallagher and some Republican bloggers, many of whom are leaders in his party. Is this where the new Republican Party is going in Monmouth, back to the time before relations between the races improved? Is this the plan that Republicans have for Monmouth County?
    Because if that is a plan, it is a terrible one and something I want no part of. I have never seen arrogance on this level. The issue of race has to be something that people - everyone really - gets together about. There are issues to be dealt with that are serious, and this loose talk is inviting trouble in the Bayshore and in this county. I strongly urge against it because I have seen racial unrest in my day, and if anyone thinks people from years ago stopped using that phrase because they were trying to be polite then they haven't lived long enough. Black people are not the N-word, and I don't think anyone, especially a handful of political people, are going to shove them into the back of the bus again by trying to bring that word back.
    The black and white communities will not agree on everything, but antagonizing blacks is not the way to go at all.

(Joe Caliendo is the chairman of the Middletown Township Democratic Party. He has been active in municipal government and politics since the 1961 campaign of former President John F. Kennedy.)