Earlier this week one of my colleagues wrote a riveting post on the controversial comments made by the former home run record holder, Hank Aaron. Like many other events happening in this country these days, the Aaron event served to show that racism is being used as a weapon for dividing people. Many people have lost a degree of respect for Aaron — even though they maintain the highest regard for his historical athletic accomplishment.

Another incident this week helped bring to light another controversial event that preceded Aaron’s comments and which was even more inflammatory. The national mainstream media did not cover this week’s event, nor the one that prompted it two months ago, but there is no denying that both of them happened. The lack of attention to these stories is equally as reprehensible as Aaron’s comments.

While Aaron leveled his hatred toward Republicans as a group, an Alabama state representative channeled his hatred toward white people in general in early March. On the floor of the state chamber, Alvin Holmes made comments which, had they been uttered by a white person, would have resulted in outcries by the mainstream media that would have been heard thousands of miles away in the farthest reaches of the country. Here is a portion of what Holmes said on March 4.

Now, this man has been in the Alabama legislature since 1974 — which means he has been representing some block of the citizenry in Alabama for 40 years. I find it astonishing that he can make these racially charged comments and not be challenged on them while he is on the floor. In the video, the woman at the other podium is a Republican representative who introduced a bill that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is heard, which bill prompted the outrageous remarks by Mr. Holmes. The female representative says nothing during the disturbing soliloquy by Mr. Holmes until he asks her a question (after this video ends) about what she would do if her daughter came home, said she was pregnant by a black man, and said she was going to keep the baby. The woman says that she would support her daughter. In a derogatory and haughty manner, Alabama Alvin presses the female representative farther, and she responds calmly that she would love the child just like all of her grandchildren. Holmes laughs wickedly and says he has to give her credit because “there wouldn’t be one [white person] in a hundred thousand who would do that.” Holmes’ attitude and mocking tone are detestable. You can hear the entire audio at this link.

Still not finished, motor-mouth Holmes went on to say that he would give $100,000 to anyone who could show him a group of white people who would adopt a black baby. Now, if I lived in Alabama I would be outraged by Holmes’ comments and would do whatever I could to defeat him in the next election. Indeed, a large group of families was enraged by Mr. Holmes’ comments, and this week they gathered for a rally near the Alabama state capitol as proof that they HAVE adopted black children. In a moving demonstration, these families showed up to prove to Mr. Holmes that he is wrong about white people. Although one local news station carried the story, you will not see pictures like this on any national mainstream media station.

This was not the first time that Mr. Holmes has made controversial racist remarks. In February, a few weeks before his abortion comments, Holmes called Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a “very prolific Uncle Tom” and said that Thomas is “a black man allowing himself to be used to carry the message for a white man.” (Pertinent part of the video below is between 40 secs and 1:24.)

http://youtu.be/hXZ1mDLWxOM

Alabama cartoonist J.D. Crowe expressed the thoughts of at least some Alabamans on Mr. Holmes in a cartoon this past week. He graciously agreed to allow me to reprint the cartoon here.

Something tells me that there will be no takers.