"C.H.A.N.G.E. -- Come Help A N----r Get Elected."

A seventh grade civics teacher in Marianna, Florida decided to illustrate the concept of "change" by writing

Come Help A N----r Get Elected

on the white board in front of his class, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. The class had seventeen white students, six black students and one Asian.

It was, above all else, a stunning act of child abuse. All of those children will always remember having their trust in their teacher violated. How many nascent friendships in that class will shatter under the strain of that horrible act? Horrible. Let's hope some good ones will be formed out of it instead.

Since we can all agree that the teacher, Greg Howard, did something Very Bad, the more interesting question becomes why? What's the pathology of the crime?

Howard had to know that he was performing an extraordinarily destructive act -- self-destructive most of all. There was no way he was getting away with doing this. What motivated him?

I can only assume that he grew up in an environment in which racism was mother's milk. He'd been trying to keep all these pent up feelings of disgust at Barack Obama's candidacy inside and all of a sudden they just spilled out. So he flew his little kamikaze mission into the flight deck of the USS Racial Harmony.

Poor Greg Howard did his horrible thing and he will have to live with himself. But what about all the little Greg Howards out there? The ones who watch this story on TV and purse their lips and say, well, he shouldn't have done that to those kids but I don't think they should crucify the man for making a joke. The ones who have their outrage polarity reversed so its the reaction and not the action that is the problem.

The backdrop for this behavior is that racism in America has been largely driven underground. It is no longer socially acceptable to drop the n-word in conversation. Broadly generalizing about racial groups, once par for the course, is now frowned on. Yet there's still political value in exploiting simmering racial resentments, as Republican proto-Karl Rove political operative Lee Atwater famously explained:

You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968 you can't say "nigger"--that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.

And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that.
But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded,
that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other.
You follow me--because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut
this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of
a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger."

Lee Atwater became a literal death bed convert to tolerance, and, in that light, I feel like it is our moral obligation to reach those poor sinners and save them from the morass of their racism. I do.

The persistent Muslim/flag pin/Pledge of Allegiance/Michelle Obama whitey tape smears against Barack Obama are the "forced busing" and "welfare" of the 2008 campaign. So what do you do with those people? First of all, if you can email them, send them a link to this great video, featuring Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO and late of John Lewis' United Mine Workers (Thanks commenter sue30c), courtesy of Ta-Nehisi Coates:

Ta-Nehisi is worth a bookmark. He is always insightful and entertaining.

It strikes me that the way in which the right approaches terrorism and the left approaches racism are strikingly similar. Both take a hardline approach to the bad guys and view making subtle distinctions as appeasement.

The right sees the Arab and Muslim worlds as a huge monolith. It takes evidence such as Palestinians dancing in the street after 9-11 as proof that the entire Muslim world is consumed with a pathological hatred of the United States,which, sotto voce, justifies whatever action we take against them.

To the left, the reality is more complicated. There are the actual terrorists, who we must kill or imprison. Then there are the substantive supporters, whose financial and other forms of support must be disrupted. Then there are the great majority of Muslims and Arabs. They may be casual sympathizers or apathetic to the conflict. They can be brought around by good arguments and good actions.

As much as the left is capable of nuance on terror, it views the world of racism as being monolithic. The reality, again, is more complex. Hardcore racists must be dealt with harshly, but the vast majority of racially insensitive people are simply confused and misguided. They were raised wrongly, but apart from their pathology on race, they are not bad people.

We can and should appeal to the better angels of their nature. Some sneer at the "white guilt" that they suggest motivates support for Barack Obama. It certainly doesn't motivate anyone I know. But maybe we shouldn't run from that idea.

Barack Obama is a benediction for the country. He's a chance to say, yeah, we screwed up a lot, but we're looking forward rather than backwards. If some "guilty" whites want to vote for Obama on that basis, all I can say is: Welcome aboard.

Follow Bart Motes on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bmotes

Comments

[Jorindovsky]

My Audacity, I have found most Blacks to be more prejudiced and racist than my White friends. So please don't bore us with your P.C. blather.

[Bama4obama]

I live in southeast Alabama about 40 miles from Marianna.

It makes me angry that this "teacher/football coach" used the cover of politics in his history class to spew his hate speech, when another teacher might have taken this rich moment in time as an opportunity to teach really valuable history lessons. And for all the progress the south is supposed to have made during my generation (I am a 55 year old white woman) it is truly sad that we can have excitment down here in our schools for the black atheletes that lead our teams to to victory on the football fields , but heaven forbid, actually acknowledge that a black man or woman could be President of the United States. But what really makes me angry is that this man basically recieved a slap on the wrist for something that, if a student had written on the board, would have caused the student to be immediatly expelled under the "no tolerance" rule in schools.

I am embarrassed that this is what passes for teaching down here. I only wish I could take away the pain this must have caused some students.

[res05e]

All the Tallahassee Democrat says is that he wrote a racist slogan on the whiteboard. It doesn't say why he wrote it there. It's entirely possible that he's racist and that he was expressing a racist opinion. It's also possible that he was attempting to teach the controversy surrounding Obama's campaign and used that slogan as an example. I know I've written stuff on the whiteboard that, when taken out of context of the larger lesson, could be misunderstood. I don't use the n-word in my classroom and I don't write profanity on the whiteboard, but not all educators are alike.

I'm not saying that the guy is innocent, but the NAACP is right; we need to investigate and get more facts before we call for this guy's head.

[rozboy]

This is one of the most enthusiastic, fervent, and incredible Obama endorsements I have seen. I got a lump in my throat seeing these words come from someone other than folks who look like me. It is my hope and dream that a person can get elected on merit, not the color of skin or gender. There are so many of us born on the back end of the Civil Rights movement who used to joke that a Black man will never get elected to higher office, and that White people will not allow it. Well...here it is - proof that support for this incredible Presidential race has gone across color lines and has begun erasing it. Thank you for a video that I will be sure to pass on to the naysayers who think that interracial support of Obama's campaign does not exist.

[MyAudacity]

People really would like to make this election a racial issue. But, those of us who desires to rise above the histronics of racism shall continue to vote for the candidates with the best ideals and the best abilities to move this country forward. I'm truly excited about the Obama/Biden Administration, and encourage others to not get weighed down by other people's bigotry, but to take every opportunity to lead and teach our children by example. Teach our children to challenge racism and bigotry not with violence, but with Truth. We don't have to cringe, duck, or explain....but stand tall, and continuously move forward, stopping only to give a hand to anybody who may need our help, and not having to resort to any for of violence to make a point.

I suspect there are some who are doing whatever they can to create an explosive racial situation to divide the country into an Us vs Them.

I hope everyone notices that African American's have not fallen into that trap. Not yet. We still have a month to go.

[wisdom101]

I don't know where the Obama camp is on this one, however, I would clip and edit this video and make it part of his campaign ads and show it in the rual areas like Michigan, Penn and Indiana . This guy hit bulls eye. I also think this video should be shown to the teacher who ingnorantly wrote on the board such bigotry.

By the way, a lot more of my white brothers and sisters feel the same way, the difference, he was bold enough to wite it, while others cheer him on.........let's not vote against our best interest, regardless of race.

[iswideopen]

HuffPost's Pick

As I read, the tears are in the corner of my eyes. I am an African-American female that has lived long enough to know this pain. Yes, I must admit that it hurs and cuts like a knife. Innocent children. Each parent should be calling for this man's firing. How dispicable.

And now that John McCain and Sarah Palin are dropping in the polls, what do they do? The same as this teacher. Incite racial and war-mongering fears to the very bigots that feed on it. John McCain can not deny this fact. In his own voice, he has approved so many racially tinged and "coded" ads that it is unexcusable. What does it mean to gain the presidency, further divide, and possibly destroy AMERICA, and loose your soul. May GOD have mercy on us all. Because that is more of a reality than one might want to believe.

[Bart Motes - Huffpost Blogger]

I'm really sorry that the story has caused you this pain. I hope that the tears you shed on election night will be ones of joy as we elect Barack Obama President of the United States! Thanks for the comment.

[rozboy]

I cannot wait until that night, when I can joyously celebrate a new era. Thank you for this insightful article.

[deb123]

You're not the only one with tears in the corner of your eyes. This Caucasian has them, too. While I know we've made progress, it pains me to the core of my being to hear of people like Greg Howard and his weak-willed principal. I don't know how much longer it will take to rid our country of bigotry, but I've always believed that education would go a long way toward doing it. But not if we allow hateful educators like Howard to remain in the system. He should be banned from every school in our land. We don't need his kind teaching our children.

This election has shined a light on the racial divide just as the winds of Katrina blew the lid off what was hiding in plain sight. It is our time -- all of us -- to say ENOUGH!

[mhutch47]

Man it's sad to see this still going on in this day and age. If there's a silver-lining to be found when stories of this despicable kind of racism hit the national stage, we're reminded of the role racism continues to play in our country and the work we still have to do. Racism, for the most part, now exists on a stealth level, and sometimes it takes an idiot like Greg Howard to bring this sad reality to our conscious attention where thankfully, most people's better angels win out.

[honeydiva]

well he's going to be too hot to employ for a while, he's going to be sued, might as well fire him before the super loses his job as well. it's gone national. no where to hide.

[zedthewizard]

guy in the video, love ya!

[suec03]

"Guy in the video" should have been credited. He is Richard Trumka, former president of the United Mine Workers union and currently the Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO. I hope he is getting the chance to spread his message at other national meetings of AFL-CIO member unions!

[Bart Motes - Huffpost Blogger]

So credited, thanks. My U.S. Labor History professor, the unequaled Robert Zieger, would have been distraught with me.

[jhNY]

I am vastly releived to discover anybody is still teaching civics, as I was pretty sure that course had been abandoned all over America. Of course the story and its featured actor is vile, and the the fellow should be told to hit the bricks, or whatever the paving surface is in that part of the Sunshime State.

[RepairmanDave]

HuffPost's Pick

Let me just apologize to the rest of the world on behalf of Marianna. I've lived here for a decade and a half, and the Adult Education Annex where Greg Howard was going to be teaching (until this story hit the national media) is literally three blocks from my house.

Somebody who's supposedly a role model, a Person In Authority™, a man whose salary is paid by my tax dollars, somehow in this day and age still thinks it's okay to make racist jokes to the children he's charged with educating. It's just staggering that not only could Howard make such an egregious and malicious misjudgement, but Superintendent Sims felt that he should be allowed to go on teaching.

I'm sorry that a disgusting story like this came out of my hometown. I'm sorry that stories like this represent Florida in the eyes of the rest of America, and America in the eyes of the world. I want people to understand that Marianna doesn't always make Deliverance look cosmopolitan, and that not everybody here is an ignorant troglodyte.Despite the impression that you might reasonably get from this story, not everybody in Marianna has eyeholes in their bedsheets, and a lot of us are outraged that this reprehensible conduct was punished by a slap on the wrist.

[Bart Motes - Huffpost Blogger]

Dave, thank you. I in no way meant to disparage the folks of Marianna, which may have produced a fool like Greg Howard, but also produced a thoughtful, considerate human being such as yourself. Thank you very much for the comment.

[ericmiami]

HuffPost's Pick

Thanks, Bart.
I lived in Marianna for five years. The only place I saw blacks and whites really mixing was at Habitat For Humanity events. Otherwise, they might as well have been from separate planets.

[Bart Motes - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks very much for the comment, Eric. Another argument for Habitat for Humanity!

[apoyo]

I disagree with the suspension. He should be fired and his teacher's certificate revoked nation wide. People like this cannot be rehabilitated. Talk about judgement.

[Bart Motes - Huffpost Blogger]

Absolutely agree. That's a firing offense without question.

[mommadona]

I am sick of bigoted Southerners.

I am sick of White Males going all 'alpha' around kids.

[Bart Motes - Huffpost Blogger]

Bigotry isn't limited to the South, I'm afraid.

[dbartenstein]

Nor is "alpha" behaviour limited to white males......