Jim Webb Speaks Profoundly On Race

Vice President Sen. Jim Webb, in an interview this morning on Morning Joe, spoke out about Obama’s lack of support among Appalacian whites. He noted that they feel a sense of injustice about affirmative action, but that Obama will be able to get their minds right in time:

“This isn’t Selma, 1965. This is a result of how affirmative action, which was basically a justifiable concept when it applied to African Americans, expanded to every single ethnic group in America that was not white, and these were the people who had not received benefits and were not getting anything out of it. And they’re basically saying let’s pay attention to what has happened to this cultural group in terms of opportunities.”

Word, I feel him. Affirmative action wasn’t meant to be a free for all for any minority to gain an advantage over whites. Its original intent was to reverse the discriminative practices of Jim Crow by giving blacks a leg up on higher education. And it was never meant to be a permanent practice no matter who it covered.

Webb went on to draw comparisons between the two excluded groups:

“Black America and Scots-Irish America are like tortured siblings. They both have long history and they both missed the boat when it came to the larger benefits that a lot of other people were able to receive. There’s a saying in the Appalachian mountains that they say to one another, and it’s, ‘if you’re poor and white, you’re out of sight.’ If this cultural group could get at the same table as Black America you could rechange populist American politics. Because they have so much in common in terms of what they need out of government.”

Sen. Webb famously won his Virginia Senate seat over George Allen following the Macaca incident. Now, I seriously doubt if West Virginian whites will be holding hands with Mississippi blacks singing camp songs, but I do think they can agree to disagree on McCain if presented with the right argument. And Sen. Webb is just the person to draw this comparison. I see VP in his future.