What if the situation were reversed?

Dallas Municipal Court Judge C. Victor Lander writes a column for a newspaper whose target audience is black. In last week's column he commented about an ongoing controversy between District Attorney Craig Watkins and the Commissioners Court. Judge Lander said, ". . .black folks have been cleaning up white folks' messes for hundreds of years, so why should we expect any different now?"

The only person I've heard of with enough courage to call this what it is is Council Member Mitchell Rasansky. He said he was extremely offended by the comment and asked for Lander's resignation.

Other council members, while expressing displeasure with the remark, were evidently too afraid of political fallout or being stuck with a racist label to take a stand. Angela Hunt said, "He's new to this job and new to having this much focus on his words. He needs to be more thoughtful in the future, and I'm hopeful he'll clarify his statement." Being new to the job has nothing to do with his remark, Ms. Hunt. What he said was racist no matter how much experience he has, and it was most certainly inappropriate for one who is deemed unbiased enough to be a judge. Clarify his remark? What's to clarify? It's pretty plain to me what he meant.

Dwaine Caraway said in defending this racist, "Society has changed. People are able to put more on the table and discuss it without feeling like they're being slapped in the face." Only if you're not white, Mr. Caraway. And I believe what you are saying directly contradicts what "Judge" Lander said -- didn't he say nothing had changed in hundreds of years?

This remark was not "Judge" Lander's first racist remark. He said on February 28, "I wanted to make sure that you who read this and other African-American newspapers know that the only place you will get the truth is from your own people . . ." From that, one can only surmise that he believes all white people are liars. Can you get any more racist than that?

What's the best argument that what this man said indicates he is a racist? Reverse the situation. What if a white man had said it? I seriously doubt he would still be a judge.

"Judge faces flak for racial remarks." The Dallas Morning News; March 18, 2009; p. 1B.