Playing the Hand You Are Dealt: Playing the "Race Card."

Sarah Palin baffles me. She is the poster child for what a solid marketing and business plan can do for anyone. I'm not sure if its her charming accent. Or maybe its how the media salivates, waiting for the next nugget of golden mockery to fall from her Alaskan lips. But when she speaks, people listen. I just wish she would say something we haven't heard before (rhetoric) and use her voice for the positive and not for divisiveness. It could make such a stronger impact toward positive change in the conservative realm of politico. 

She made headlines today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with rude (and in my view, ignorant) comments accusing President Obama of "playing the race card." What made her comments rude and ignorant is the she coupled them with an MLK quote. (*facepalm* #fail) Here is where her comments diverged from honorable to "catty as a teenage girl whose boyfriend you just made out with":

"Mr. President, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all who commit to ending any racial divide, no more playing the race card."--Sarah Palin

One can most certainly conjecture that what Palin is referring to are some comments President Obama made in an interview with the New Yorker (published this weekend.) Palin did not refer to any specific incidences in which President Obama "played the race card." However, in reading the article, I hear a black man talking about race. 

This made me ponder race and grace. Why is it that when I talk about race as a WASP (white, anglo-saxon, protestant), that I'm just talking about race but if a black person talks about race, they are "playing the race card?" Where is the grace of God that allows unity within diversity? If I can talk about being a woman, why can't President Obama speak about being black? Is the same grace not extended to him? I also wonder if Palin also thinks that Martin Luther King Jr. played the race card too much. 

I have heard and seen people use their race as an excuse to be lazy. According to the Jaimie Dictionary of English,  being lazy is defined as: "to avoid what is hard." This avoidance can look like categorically avoiding/denying a task, working hard/being the best at only what you are comfortable with (like workaholics.) Or it can look like doing nothing. Dealing with racism is uncomfortable and hard for white people. But that doesn't give us an excuse to be lazy. 

One of the most heart-saddening things I witness are white people who refuse to take the time to understand that white privilege actually exists, to engage the issue of racism with intelligence and grace or set aside their own discomfort/guilt/shame/sadness/pride to work collectively to change the conversation around race in our country. I find it shameful. 

So, shame on you, Sarah Palin. Not for being a republican. Not for being conservative. Not for being opinionated. Not for all of your personal and political views. 

Shame on you for the disrespect you have shown your Commander and Chief. 
Shame on you for implying that race isn't worth talking about.
Shame on you for disrespecting the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with your ill-timed criticism.
Shame on you for being a poor example of grace and intelligence to America's children. 
Shame on you for using your privilege and influence for bad and not for good. 

This shame does not come from me. Your behavior shames you all on its own.