I wish I understood the liberal fascination with skin pigmentation.

Conservatives focus on the content of a person's character, whereas to liberals the most important characteristic is the color of one's skin.

Not exactly what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had in mind.

King wanted equal opportunity for those he called Negroes. That exists. He didn't worry about equal outcomes, figuring that would take care of itself. But unequal outcomes are what today's liberals cite as evidence of “racism.” Poppycock.

Why aren't those dedicated to equal outcomes demanding a voting record among blacks that would reflect the population – i.e., “look like America,” – and be close to 50 percent for conservatives and liberals?

Playing the race card is not just something employed on occasion by scoundrels like Al Sharpton. It is a staple in the liberal playbook.

Google “racist Republican” to see how it went viral during the GOP convention, topped with the assertion by one screwball that it is evidence of racism to mention “Chicago.”

I guess that made Frank Sinatra, who proclaimed in song that Chicago was his kind of town, a Klansman.

The best definition of racist as used by liberals may be the one attributed to Thomas Sowell: “A conservative who is winning an argument with a liberal.”

But liberals have a voting bloc they are unwilling to relinquish, no matter how unfair and divisive they have to be.

Why that bloc exists is a mystery. Liberals have done more to destroy black families than to lift them to prosperity. This cannot be passed off as unintended consequences because a leading Democrat, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, warned decades ago that welfare was having that effect.

Government schools, coddled and protected by liberals for the benefit of the teacher unions, are another thing working against black families. Reforms led by conservatives are helping black children but liberals are fighting those reforms with gusto.

There is a growing pool of discontent among black voters over the fact that liberals oppose voucher programs, which help poor black children get an education.

Liberal policies also prevent job growth. Serial job-killer Barack Obama is presiding over the most jobless economy in a half-century.

 Education and jobs are the way for more families to succeed and prosper. A few black voters understand this. Having succeeded in spite of the liberal obstacles, they are tired of the condescending attitude of liberals who exploit them, take their vote for granted and imply that their children are incapable of learning unless they are seated next to a white child.

Also, anyone who thinks liberals love people with black skin might want to review what they are saying about an American hero and outstanding member of Congress from Florida, Allen West.

You have to wonder what will happen in a few decades, when most of the population is descended from both whites and blacks, like the president. Most will be Hispanic as well, and another large segment will be of Asian ancestry. How will liberals divide and conquer then?


Lloyd Brown was in the newspaper business nearly 50 years, beginning as a copy boy and retiring as editorial page editor of the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. After retirement he served as speech writer for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.