By: Lois-Ann Clark, Publisher, AABoomers.com

Immediately after the election of President Obama, there seemed to be a sense of euphoria in the air. Many people wondered aloud, some even proclaiming that, as a result of his election; we were living in a “post-racial America”. As a Baby Boomer who came of age with images of children being attached by water hoses for nothing more than non-violently protesting for rights that were guaranteed them by the Constitution seared into my brain, I decided to adopt a “wait and see” attitude.. Unfortunately, I didn’t have to wait too long. Nay-sayers such as Rush Limbaugh and others proclaimed, “I hope he fails”, before President Obama even took office. The statement was preposterous, because as Dr. King, whose birthday we recently celebrated has said, “either we learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools.”

From the beginning, there were the “birthers,” who challenged the President’ birthplace and whether or not he was eligible to be President’s. In fact, as recently as last month, Republicans in Georgia brought up this old, tired argument yet again, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to have the President’s name removed from the ballot this year. As any self respecting Baby Boomer who attended elementary school in the fifties can attest, Alaska and Hawaii became states when they were in school. The haters seem to go from one ludicrous statement to another, never missing the opportunity to discredit the President and work against him. Their attitude seems to be, “we don’t care whether it is good for the country or not, we’re against it because you’re for it”

Fast forward to the current Republican primary.season. The comments made by the candidates defy the truth and have you wondering if this is 1912, rather than 2012 One candidate, Newt Gingrich, has proposed paying African American students in urban schools to train to become janitors, while any honest work should be respected, you have to wonder why he could not have thought of something more, shall we say, progressive. Incidentally, Gingrich also referred to President Obama as the Food Stamp President, which is actually incorrect. More Americans applied for food stamps during the Bush administration than the Obama administration. Recently, candidate Rick Santorum referred to Mitt Romney as Governor Romney and President Obama as simply “Obama” in the same conversation. While it is customary for to someone who has once held a certain title to be addressed by the title, even if they no longer hold that position, President Obama is the sitting President and should be afforded the title. Santorum, who is probably not a viable candidate anyhow, drew fire from National Urban League President Marc Morial for pandering to people’s fears in his so-called “slip of the tongue” regarding African American and food stamps

Then, of course, there is the position of Ron Paul on public accommodations and the racist publications his campaign issued in the 1990’s. All of these things are carefully crafted tactics used in the past to incite division and fears among whites. It is simply pandering to the fears of whites who feel disenfranchised, and we have seen it all before. The theory seems to be; it doesn’t matter whether what you are saying is true or not; say it and get people riled up. You can apologize later, after the damage has been done. “Lest we forget”, these tactics will continue to be used to generate the desired result, the defeat of President Obama and his vision for the United States..

As reprehensible as these offenses are, the most egregious may have been that of Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, whom, as we all well know, shook her finger in the President’s face in public after calling him to the side to discuss her feelings about his response to the way he was characterized in her book. Could she not have waited until they were in a more private setting? Can you imagine if this situation had been reversed and a Black female elected official had wagged her finger at a white President? Several writers have suggested that she would have been “taken down” by the Secret Service in one fell swoop. Brewer’s assertion that she “felt threatened,” was weak and conjured up for many, the memory of the lynching of Black men who were seen to have stepped out the perceived boundaries that society had carved out for them when dealing with white women. Looking at the photo, it certainly appears that she was the aggressor.

To far too many of us, her actions were condescending, disrespectful, and down right rude. How dare she do that! Or perhaps better stated, “No she didn’t”! Her actions showed what always seems to be root of these kinds of behaviors: a sense of entitlement. It is what fuels the words and actions of likes of Rush Limbaugh and his fellow haters, the Tea Party members, and all the others before them. It is what enables them to say they want to “take the country back”. Back from whom? (We all know the answer to that)

Rev. Jesse Jackson has suggested that people of good will who were offended by Brewer’s actions contact her office and demand an apology. I am not opposed to apologies however. I think they are useless. What really concerns me is the hubris that would allow someone in Brewer’s position to think that her behavior was appropriate in any way. Her behavior was not only disrespectful to the President, but also to the office of the Presidency. What ever happened to civility, to “disagreeing agreeably”? The bottom line is: she did it because she could. From her position of entitlement, she did not feel it was inappropriate. One can only wonder if she would have felt so comfortable displaying the same behavior to any of the previous Presidents

There is an old saying; "those who forget the past are destined to repeat it” Our history has taught us what these behaviors are; what they and actions actually mean, and how to effectively deal with them. The answer to the question of whether Black History Month is necessary today is a resounding, YES! Not only our children, but all children and adults, need to know the contributions made by African Americans to this country, and the indignities we have had to endure then, and unfortunately, now.