I AM OFFENDED!!!!

Well, I'm not really offended. I'm awfully hard to offend...awfully hard! I guess I'd say that I am disappointed...not in President Obama, or his Inaugural Address today. I am disappointed in Joseph Lowery.

The day will never come that race is not an issue in the U.S., or anywhere else in the world for that matter. It will not come because racism, and racial distrust exists in the heart of man. It is a fact that I've made peace with.

I am prejudiced. I'm pretty sure that I'm not racist, but I am prejudiced. I make judgments based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political views, situations, etc. before I have all the facts. I begin my fact-finding based on my prejudices. I hope that my prejudices are temperate, and that they help me in some odd way to understand the other guy better. I am more often than not very pleased with my prejudices. I have spent almost 50 years developing them through my life experience...and they are fairly sharp (if I say so myself! which I just did!).

Through my teens, twenties, and thirties, I can honestly say that I had a great deal of respect for Joseph Lowery. He seemed to me to be a man of integrity...an honest man of courage and love. I never viewed him as a race baiter, or a standard run-of-the-mill stick-up guy like Jackson, or Sharpton. Over the last several years though, I have watched Lowery morph into something else. I sort of sluffed it off to his advancing years...doddering old guy, not quite all there...taken with Barry Goldwater disease, etc.

As a Christian, I embraced Lowery as a brother in Christ. But when I heard his "prayer" to wrap up the Inauguration, I really did lose that respect...and I don't think he's a doddering old guy any longer. He is a calculating race baiter...still bitter from his youth, and suspicious of white folks. Well, maybe I am kinda offended. I take it a bit personally when anyone that I consider a brother in Christ looks at me and judges me a "wrongdoer" because of my caucasian race. I would no more judge him a "wrongdoer" because he is black than I would french-kiss a house cat.

Now, I'm not naive enough to believe for one moment that public prayers of this sort are heartfelt prayers to the Almighty! They are almost always statements to those listening. Heck, I messed up once big-time. When I was in High School, I was asked to give the pre-football game prayer when Bossier High played Haughton High School at Bossier Memorial Stadium. That was back in the days when we prayed before high school football games (incidentally, the great Kansas City Chief running back, Joe Delaney...who died a heroic death much too young was on the field that night as a high school boy playing for our opponent at Memorial Stadium...read about Joe if you don't remember him...it's worth the read).

I messed up bad...I did the normal "God, thanks for getting everybody here safe...let everybody get home safe...please keep the players from injury, etc." But then I said something like "Please let those losers accept their defeat with grace." I meant to say, "Please let the loser accept defeat..." It was kinda embarrassing, but I've gotten used to being embarrassed.

Lowery's "prayer" was a statement to the listener of what is really in his heart. As he ended, he asked for "Amens" from all that do justice, and love mercy. So, I'll give him some "Amens."

He looked for the day when "The black won't stay in back." Amen! Uhhh....so does this mean that Joe Biden is gonna run things until Barack demands his seat at the front of the bus?

For the day that "the brown can stick around." Amen! Go back to Mexico, apply for legal residence...then you can stick around.

"When the red man can get ahead man." Amen! I lived for four years on an Indian Reservation. Take away their handouts, close the liquor stores, and stop the per-cap payments to tribal members from casino revenues...then they'll get ahead man.

"When the yellow will be mellow." Amen! Those danged asians are always all riled up about everything. Settle down would y'all...quit acing the ACT & SAT's for a while...quit designing world changing software...give the rest of us a chance for heaven's sake.

And..."When the white will do right." Amen! It is about time for white folks to start pulling their share of the wagon. Quit sending all those black, brown, yellow, and red folks out to fight your imperialistic wars that only enrich you. Start paying taxes to support all those other hyphenated Americans. Quit sucking off the public tit for the love of Pete! You white folks are a 20 pound tick sucking off the 5 pound dog of minorities here in the US. Do right dadgummit!

I'm disappointed in Lowery, but I still embrace him as a brother in Christ. It's sad. It is sad on a day that might have been a celebration of many victories in long struggles that Lowery decided to pick the scab...I reckon he doesn't really want it to heal.