All Men Created Equel ???

Isn’t it funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same… I say that only because I’ve seen history being repeated in a wholly unnatural way recently. Consider the following…
When the Declaration of Independence was being drafted by Thomas Jefferson somewhere between June 11th and 28th in 1776 he included the statement “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What’s interesting is that during the 17 odd days that it took him to draft the Declaration he kicked back in the comfort of his rather large home on a very large farm that was being kept by over 120 of his very own slaves. Slaves that cooked him sumptuous meals, while they ate meager rations. Slaves that he treated as commodities rather than human equals… at one time in fact Jefferson even used his Slaves as collateral to secure financing that increased his lands and the size and opulence of his home.
All the while, bleating about Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It would seems to me that the poor British might have been just a little confused that the largest dealers of Slaves found the need to shout so loudly about equal rights. Its almost embarrassing then to consider that it took until January 1, 1863 just 13 years shy of a century later and many years after every one of the “Fathers of Liberty” had gone tits up before Americans figured out that “All men are created equal” included the word ALL that had apparently eluded them for so long. Democracy with out equality, Liberty without freedom and Respectability without respect for others.
Now in 2007, some 144 years after equality set off on its bumpy road across America two Democratic candidates vie for attention as real possibilities for the title “President of America”. Barack Obama the Black or African American Senator from Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton the female Senator out of New York. Funny thing about these two equally challenged candidates is that they both have to get over an American mindset that seems to feel that only white men fit the profile for Leader of the free world. In the case of Barack Obama, its not only white men and I suppose white women who seem pretty set in there ways when it comes to bias and exclusion on the grounds of race, but now it turns out that being just a little racist is a characteristic that effects both whites and blacks alike. Its no secret that a certain exclusionary privileges are granted to minorities… “Miss Black America”, “Black Entertainment Television”, “Ebony Magazine”, “Jet Magazine”, “Essence Magazine”, "The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc.”, “NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People” are just a few of the many many organizations and publications dedicated entirely to people of a specific race. There are no nationally accepted organizations or publications that centers around white or European interests… such things would be considered racist.
Something happened recently that is in my mind very telling of how equality is dealt out by those who shout loudest for equal rights… As a white liberal running in a majority African American district, Tennessee. Democrat Stephen I. Cohen made a pledge on the campaign trail last year that if elected, he would seek to become the first white member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Now that he's is a Congressman, Cohen has had to changed his plans. Apparently several current and former caucus members made it clear to him that whites need not apply. There had even been reports that former Representative William Lacy Clay Sr., a Democrat from Missouri, a co-founder of the caucus, had circulated a memo telling members that it was "critical" that the group remain "exclusively African-American." Other members, including the new chairwoman, Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, the Democrat from Michigan, and Clay's son, Representative William Lacy Clay, the Democrat out of Missouri, agreed. So when "Mr. Cohen asked for admission, he got his answer. ... It's time to move on," the younger Clay said. "It's an unwritten rule. It's understood. It's clear."
Representative Pete Stark, a Democrat from California, who is white, tried in 1975 to join the caucus when he was a sophomore representative and the group was only six years old.
"Half my Democratic constituents were African American. I felt we had interests in common as far as helping people in poverty," Stark said. "They had a vote, and I lost. They said the issue was that I was white, and they felt it was important that the group be limited to African Americans."
It is interesting to me that Cohen has won high marks for hiring African Americans. In fact a majority of his staff is African American, including his chief of staff… Its seems that once again inclusion is a one way street.
Please don’t misinterpret this last little piece of writing as my disappointment in the African American view of equality being somewhat skewed. I’m all for organizations that promote group interests, I think its natural and acceptable that “Birds of a feather stick together” I’m just curious why it is that there are not more organizations that seek representation for those of European decent on a larger scale. I would even be happy to offer my services as a judge at the first Miss White America contest, I‘m even happy to break it up into segments of Blonde, Brunette and Red Heads... Just because your proud of your heritage, doesn’t mean your against someone else’s. If I chose to watch a sitcom representing six white kids in Manhattan, New York over a sitcom representing a well to do black family in Flatbush, Brooklyn. It doesn’t mean I’m a raciest, it just means that I identify better with characters and situations in “Friends”. In exactly the same way, its simply unthinkable for me to vote a black man or a woman into the highest office in the land… very simply, I’m a white man and just like the members of the Congressional Black Caucus who will stick together for better or worse, my instincts tell me to go for the white dude… every time!