One of the many childhood stories Polimom grew up with is Aesop’s The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Remember him? He was the boy who kept calling out “Wolf” when there was none, right up to the day when there was…. but nobody believed him:
“There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, “Wolf!” Why didn’t you come?”
An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village.
“We’ll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning,” he said, putting his arm around the youth, “Nobody believes a liar…even when he is telling the truth!”
Polimom, like so many parents, has used this fable to teach many lessons: “Don’t pretend you’re sick to avoid school, or I won’t believe you when you really are.” “If you tell me you brushed your teeth but you didn’t, I’ll have to stand and watch because I won’t believe you.”
It’s a simple tool for an important lesson: There will come a time when you will need people to hear you and take you seriously. If you’ve cried wolf in the past, though, you’ll be out of luck when you have a real problem…which brings me to the point: Crying “Racism” and the recent Cynthia McKinney incident.
Polimom took a satirical look at her ranting, and even thoughtful folks like Earl Ofari Hutchinson, who discusses and analyzes American race relations with great sensitivity, writes:
Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s much belated apology for punching a capitol patrol officer didn’t answer a burning question. Was she the victim of racial profiling, or legislating while black, as she claimed? Or, was it a hotheaded overreaction to a patrol officer simply doing his duty? The Capitol officer was white and that opened the door wide for McKinney to scream racism. But if the capitol officer had been black, it would have been a moot point. McKinney would have been deservedly criticized for obstructing an officer who was trying to do his job. And Capitol police say that’s exactly what he was doing.
McKinney is certainly well aware that jitters over a possible terrorist attack on federal buildings have made Capitol police super diligent about giving any and everyone that steps into the Capitol building the third degree. McKinney didn’t help her case by not having her Congressional ID pin on her lapel. A big tip that the race squawk won’t cut it in this case is the mute reaction of the Congressional Black Caucus and other Democrats. Not one Caucus member publicly charged to her defense, and not one Democratic House member stood at her side at her initial press conference when she cried racism. In all likelihood, she apologized at the quiet urging of Caucus members
There’s a disturbing disconnect between white and black perceptions of racism in America. Many blacks feel that racism is still rampant throughout our society, that discrimination is still affecting their chances to succeed, and they’re enormously frustrated. Many whites feel that American society has successfully slain the racism wolf that stained our history, that opportunities are equal, and the continued pressure to address the problems are inflammatory examples of “reverse racism”.
The unfortunate truth is that there is still racism in America – lots of it – but it’s getting harder and harder to distinguish between a wolf and a racist. The damage done by Cynthia McKinney is not just to her constituents, who have elected to suffer her shenanigans. Thanks to her position of power and trust, this fiasco has undermined – again – the credibility of those who will need to be believed in the future.
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Update: The Washington Post has more, and you can keep up with the blogosphere’s reaction here.