With the coming election, one could easily ask, “What next?” What will be added to the many hateful accusations already being hurled back and forth? Well, the latest sordid accusation is incredible and unimaginable—beyond words. And it’s all over the Internet.

James Carville, political strategist for the Democrat party, recently hurled a hateful, racist accusation against Republicans. Before describing it, however, it’s worth saying that the Democrat party has long relied upon racial divisions as a campaign strategy.

It was in this context that Carville recently said, “And the reason I suspect that most of these people describe themselves as pro-Israel is because the Jews are whiter than the Palestinians, which I think drives a lot of what they are.” Mediate summed this up by saying that Carville claimed that “Republicans are more likely to be pro-Israel than Democrats because Jews have a lighter complexion than their Arab neighbors.”

Image made using a YouTube screen grab and public domain picture.

It is worth noting that both Jews and Arabs, including Palestinians, have a variety of skin, eye, and hair colors, ranging from fair to dark. As one who has resided in Arab North Africa and traveled in Israel with a Palestinian tour guide, I have observed such diversity. Furthermore, Israel is our sole reliable ally in the Middle East.

Carville’s decision to drag race into the Israel=Hamas war is not only extremely ignorant, but it’s also an ironic statement coming from the political party that has oppressed blacks since the party’s inception in 1828. Since then, it was responsible for slavery, the Jim Crow laws, segregation policies, fighting against the Civil Rights Movement and, of course, the Ku Klux Klan that lynched not only blacks but also Republicans.

It was a Republican president who appointed two blacks to the high-ranking office of Secretary of State—Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. That cabinet position put them fourth in line to be appointed president if the current president died or became incapacitated.

The many times Democrats cry “racist” to accuse innocent parties of racism is past tedious and tiresome. It’s not just name-calling, either. It’s either libel or slander, it’s deceptive, and it’s genuine hate speech. It’s time to publicly denounce this libelous practice and hold them accountable. Such hateful, libelous, and slanderous speech will not stop until a majority of people on all sides politically denounce it for what it is.

As for James Carville, he owes an apology to the innocent parties who were objects of his personal hatred and racial obsessions.

It’s long past time for those in positions of leadership or power to model civility and decency vis-à-vis all others, even those with whom they disagree or rival politically. This pertains especially to political candidates and their operatives in all political parties.

Let’s secure the words racist and racism for the genuine racists regardless of their race. By using the word accurately and rarely, its impact and power will return to the level of honesty and truthfulness. As an Independent voter with no allegiance to any political party, I submit these thoughts equally to all.