Just how racist is this state?

On April 30, embattled State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (D-Philadelphia) won some more attention for himself by impugning his fellow state legislators. In a hearing held by the Appropriations Committee, Fumo was questioning Gilbert Coleman, Jr., a Philadelphia pastor who was testifying in favor of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in the state. In order make the point that no constitution should deprive a minority of certain rights, Fumo said that, given the chance, the PA General Assembly would vote to reinstate slavery.

Those who understood the nature of his remarks were offended at the suggestion that Pennsylvania is a racist state. Surely, no one in our proud commonwealth harbors that kind of primitive racial antipathy. Unfortunately, an exit poll conducted after this state’s primary April 22 showed the 13% of white voters admit that race was a determining factor in their vote. Of those voters, 75% voted for Clinton. The only possible conclusion is that 9.75% of the voters in PA admit that they voted against Obama because he is black. And those are just the voters who admit to it; it’s impossible to say how many persuaded themselves that they were voting against Obama because he went to Harvard or because he doesn’t wear a flag pin on his lapel every day.

A trip through rural Pennsylvania reveals more Confederate flags than one would ever expect to see north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Pennsylvania is home to Neo-Nazi groups, Skinheads, and at least two Ku Klux Klan chapters. These all sound like people who would like to reinstate slavery. The question is not really whether or not there are white supremacists in this state; it is what percentage of the population harbors that kind of sentiment. Those who were offended by Fumo’s comment really seem to have trouble with the very idea that that level of racism exists here.

Those are the people who understood what the senator was trying to say. There is another group, unsettlingly large, which completely fails to apprehend what he said. Many have insisted on saying he came out in support of slavery. Fumo used slavery as an example of injustice visited upon a disfavored group by the majority. Taken in context, his comment could only be interpreted as a condemnation of slavery.

Fumo admits that he was exaggerating. When I first heard his remark, I thought it was hyperbolic, so I’m not surprised at that. It didn’t strike me at first just how insulting the remark was to his colleagues in the Senate chamber. I wouldn’t begrudge the other senators if they asked for an apology. I have no doubt that some of the men and women voted into office by Pennsylvanians are closet racists, but I have a hard time believing that racists constitute a voting majority. Fumo has been in the Senate for a long time (he would have to be to rack up 139 federal criminal charges) and must be a fairly accurate judge of his colleagues, but I can’t see 26 of the 50 senators making that vote.

From an economic standpoint, slavery doesn’t make sense in today’s society. After World War I and especially World War II, the American economy has depended on the ravenous consumption of an increasingly affluent population. Rolling back the property rights of a chunk of our society wouldn’t shore up the system. I might be giving too much credit to the type who would actually consider bringing back chattel slavery, but there is no rational reason to go that route. After all, capitalists are the ones who make rational decisions for their own benefit; racists know only illogic and destructive impulses. The whole issue is moot, though. The ignorant and bigoted in our society currently have their attention directed elsewhere.