Race Card Pulled (Surprise)

The AFL-CIO has attacked a Chamber of Commerce ad as “…the same old right wing dog whistle politics.” The ad, which can be seen at The Huffington Post link above, shows a white man being called into his boss’ office to be fired. On the way to the office he claps a worker on the shoulder, and the worker looks at him as he walks into the office. The fellow employee is black.

Personally, I don’t see this ad as racist. I?do see it potentially doing two things: first, it’s covering some of the?necessary ground to appeal to a wide variety of workers in America. After all, nobody is safe?from being fired. Secondly, it is trying to be politically correct in its portrayal of the “everyman” worker, by showing a black person on the same job as a white person. It very well could be argued that the ad was trying to be racially sensitive, by not excluding a black person from the ad. According to Huffington Post, however, “an official with the AFL-CIO, who saw the ad air on Wednesday morning, argued that it was a perpetuation of the stereotype that minorities have a leg up on their colleagues because of affirmative-action policies.”

I definitely think the AFL-CIO is stretching here; however, I’m open to interpretations on this ad. Being a young white guy from New Hampshire, I don’t see much as racist or race-baiting on either side, though as a conservative I tend to see it more from the left. Earlier this year, however, I didn’t interpret the New York Post cartoon?as racist, but a black friend told me it “brought us back” 100 or more years. (To clarify this friend is no Al Sharpton when it comes to race issues.) I will readily admit to?missing racially-sensitive goings-on in America, so I welcome comments and corrections on my interpretation of this ad.