posted with permission from Nick Benton, owner/editor of the Falls Church News Press.

The continuing flap over Barack Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, serves as a sobering reminder of the true state of affairs, when it comes to race and class differences, in our land. All of the platitudes and self-righteous disclaimers notwithstanding, America remains deeply divided, and whenever indisputable evidence of that bubbles to the surface, things get ugly.

Privileged white males like Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs and their ilk dominate the nation’s airwaves daily, fomenting racially-tinged outrage against targeted Hispanic and other “alien” populations with impunity. Sadly, Limbaugh was elevated by ABC-TV to status as a commentator on Monday Night Football, until he made a racist remark that even his most sympathetic patrons in the media industry could not condone.