Because of racism legacy, race should play factor

TO THE EDITOR:

Barack Obama’s election made many Americans face their racial prejudices tangibly for the first time. But his election did not create a “post-racial” society, where racial attitudes don’t affect our politics. Cameron Parker’s op-ed “Content over color” (Feb. 3) is wrong in implying that it did and saying that Chapel Hill should put race in the rear-view mirror when it comes to town politics.

The process that ultimately chose Donna Bell, a qualified progressive community activist, to serve on the Town Council was democratic and transparent. Parker argues that there was a double standard between Asian-Americans and African-Americans in the process. Augustus Cho ran for Mayor and received less than 3 percent of the vote.

Not a single Asian-American candidate stood for election to the Town Council. Cho is also a Republican leader, and Asian-Americans voted almost 2-1 for President Obama. Cho couldn’t even rally his own community.

Those who suggest realizing Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream by ignoring the role of race in our politics live in a fantasy world. Coming from Parker, it reeks of white privilege. There is only one African-American U.S. Senator and two African-American governors. African-Americans still face tremendous difficulty getting proportional representation in government.



Jeff DeLuca
Freshman
Political Science, Music