THE WHITE MAN'S BEST FRIEND

The Rev. Dana Prom Smith, S.T.D., Ph.D. (10/8/08)

Forty years ago amidst the civil rights crisis, I was interviewed by a pastoral search committee at a church in Woodside, California, one of the members of the committee asked me what I thought about Martin Luther King, Jr. I replied that my family and I had marched with him down State Street in Chicago, that I had marched in Selma, and that I thought he was the white man's best friend.

The questioner pursued the subject, "What kind of trouble did you cause in your present church?" I replied, "Three families left. Five new families joined, and our pledges increased by $12,000. The chairman of the trustees, a man from North Carolina, told me that I was doing the work of the Gospel."

I wasn't invited to serve as the pastor of the church in Woodside.

Just as Martin Luther King, Jr., was the white man's best friend so is Barrack Obama. The reason is simple. He will level the racial playing field in American culture. Aside from his obvious qualifications to serve as the president, his very presence will quell racial politics played by both black and white politicians.

For instance, Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton, for all the good they've done, still plays racial politics. They won't be able to do that with Barrack Obama in the White House. Needless to say, whites opposed to racial equality, like Sarah Palin, will have to tone down their extravagancies if they want to play politics with President Obama because of his impeccable racial credentials.