BET founder Bob Johnson has put himself in the middle of the Democratic primary with another one of his "observations."  http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/15/cafferty-bet-founder-brings-race-back-into-the-race/  Johnson suggested that being Black is an advantage for Barack Obama in his effort to become the Democratic nominee and that suggestion angered me.  The reason for my anger, however, may not be what you expect it to be.

I will not kill Johnson for supporting Clinton.  Blacks expecting all other Blacks to support Obama is no different morally than other races expecting all Blacks to eat fried chicken and watermelon.  As free people, we all have the right to make our own choices and take our own positions without ridicule.

I will not kill Johnson for failing to parrot the conventional Black wisdom on matters of race.  We are not supposed to say that being Black is anything but a terrible burden (at least when whites are listening), but we Blacks know this is not really true.

My problem with Johnson's statement is that he just became the latest to take the bait.  Rather than using his position and access to the media to engage in some productive dialogue, he is dragging us to the same old tired game, the counter-productive barroom debate attempt to quantify burden and benefit based on one's demographics.

What does this debate ever get us?  More education?  More opportunity?  More freedom?  No.  Just more nonsense.  Just more headlines, but no more headway.  Can't we do better than the same tired game?