LET'S SAY you were going to the AFC, but you forgot your University ID. The attendants will not let you in without your ID, but you've decided that as a University student, you have a right to use the gym. Therefore, you hit the attendant and force your way in. When brought before a dean to explain your actions, you say that the attendant blocked your entrance because of your race and haircut. This situation sounds absurd yet this is, more or less, what happened just a two weeks ago in Congress.
On March 29, 2006, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, barged into a House of Representatives building without her congressional lapel pin. When a police officer on duty tried to stop her, she attacked him with her cell phone. She then went on television claiming that the officer "inappropriately touched her." She has argued that the officer is at fault for not being able to recognize all 535 members of Congress by sight and has further alleged that she is a victim of racial profiling by the Capitol Hill police. These unsubstantiated claims demonstrate the extent to which she is clutching at straws to mitigate the consequences of her own inappropriate actions. Playing the "race card" has become all too trite among minorities in American politics today and it seems that McKinney is no different.
There is still lingering racism in America, so it is within this context that many African-Americans see things in terms of race. But claiming that everything from aid for Hurricane Katrina victims to Capitol Hill security is racially motivated goes too far. Furthermore, nothing makes claims of actual racial discrimination less credible than incidents such as McKinney's knee-jerk reaction. She attempted to force her way into a congressional building without showing any kind of identification. Given the millions of people who visit Congress every year, Capitol Hill police officers are fully justified for erring on the side of safety. Yet somehow, with no evidence whatsoever, McKinney has claimed that she was stopped because she is black.
Perhaps if there was some sort of emergency, McKinney could justify not having the time to even call an aide to bring her pin. But, her current legislative work speaks otherwise. McKinney has recently sponsored H.R. 4968, the Tupac Shakur Records Release Act. The bill declares that "all government records related to the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur should be preserved for historical and governmental purposes." This will "enable the public to become fully informed about the history surrounding his life and death." Are we honestly paying our members of Congress to publicize for the late Tupac? The bill also provides some wholly unnecessary pork by calling for the creation of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts to be constructed in Stone Mountain, Georgia -- conveniently located within McKinney's district. Aside from wasting congressmen's valuable time and taxpayer money, this bill demonstrates just how alienated McKinney is from the rest of America. She actually believes that commemorating a rapper is the federal government's job.
It is heartening to see that both the African-American community and the Democrats have moved to distance themselves from McKinney. The Congressional Black Caucus has been notably silent throughout McKinney's antics and not a single Democrat in Congress has risen to her defense. In fact, McKinney actually apologized for her actions before Congress on April 6. Unfortunately, this is just the most recent of McKinney's race troubles. After an electoral defeat in 1996, her campaign manager (who happened to be her father) blamed the loss on Jews. "The Jews have bought everyone. The Jews. J-E-W-S," he said. Apparently, McKinney has yet to learn her lesson from making disparaging race-based comments.
All the finger-pointing and race grubbing of the past few days does not change the fact that Cynthia McKinney hit a cop trying to do his job. Now, a grand jury is deciding whether to charge McKinney with assaulting an officer. Members of Congress are not above the law and it is highly probable that she will be indicted. The real impact of this event will not be on McKinney's future, but on race relations nationwide. The African-American community can cry race in error only so many times before the rest of America stops listening. It is a shame McKinney selfishly attempted to vindicate herself at the expense of fighting real racism.
Josh Levy's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at jlevy@cavalierdaily.com.
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