Contributor Andrew Padula has been in situations throughout his life where he’s felt compelled to address racial issues from his unusual perspective. Andrew is a white, politically conservative, blues musician who’s been teaching and touring the U.S. and Europe since 1993. He can be seen with blues legend Bobby Parker on B.E.T. Jazz Central as well as on Carlos Santana’s recent DVD release “Montreux Blues Summit”. His point of view adds plenty to our discussion, so I welcome Andrew and his column The Topsoil to Allaboutrace.com. As Andrew says, “You gotta turn the topsoil to plant a crop!”

Missed me? To those of you who have been wondering where I disappeared to, I have been on a quest to obtain the keys to the free world. Seriously though I have been immersed in a political campaign and therefor I have recused myself from writing to avoid having my views being misconstrued with those of my candidate.This subject is something that pushed my button to the point where I cannot remain silent.

Howard Deans’ comment referring to the G.O.P. as the “White Party” is one of the most uninformed,unhelpful, intellectually bereft comments that I have heard “slip” from the lips of a so called national leader. His comments are an insult to all people of color because it reflects an institutionalized attitude of insensitivity and arrogance. He completely discounts the effects of economic and educational advancements in many minority communities that are shattering the once monolithic underclass mindset.

I can assert with confidence that if the African American community wants a fast track to power and leadership all you need to have is a sound philosophy and a G.O.P. party card because we are wide open. I spent last week at a party leadership conference hosted by Michael Steele. After every speech he made, all the buzz was about his competence and leadership… without qualifiers! I don’t know if it was by design or serendipity but the GOPAC staff that accompanied him were all educated and erudite gentlemen of color. I also spent a good deal of time discussing shop with one of the party chairpersons of a neighboring county in my state… a friendly face, respected ally and an upwardly mobile man of color. In my states 3rd district there is an African American gentleman by the name of Pinkerton Harris running for Congress. He is the nicest guy. He was just a regular guy who was sick of the way government is being run into the ground. He tossed his hat into the ring, woke up the next day and found out he won! His district is heavily Democrat. To win, Republican White folks were the ones who voted for him. Unfortunately, this fall a White Democrat who is a career politician will probably win. The majority Black/Democrat voting public has been duped into believing that there is no point in voting for a Black Republican. Black folks are just supposed to be Democrats. A White Democrat will have your back… won’t he?

When Howard Dean ran for President, I played a rally for him in D.C. that has forever solidified my negative opinion of the man and his entourage. ( If my memory serves me correctly, there were as many Black guys in the band as there were in the audience.) There were a couple of glazed eyed female campaign workers in a panic trying to set the room up before the rally. Two of them were trying to hang a backdrop of cardboard yard signs with scotch tape while a third was frantic trying to understand why she needed to have an extension chord and mic cable for the wireless microphone she rented. After a good chuckle, I walked over told them to hang tight while I went to my magic van and that when I returned I would solve all their problems… So I am helping them duct tape the signs up and they are just spouting off to me “Oh Howard is so smart.. isn’t he?… isn’t this so cool?…he is actually gonna be here…those stupid Republicans won’t have a chance…” After about five minutes of this, I stood up, reached for my wallet, pulled out my Republican party and NRA membership cards and tossed them on the floor where they were kneeling over the signs. They both jumped to their feet, eyes wide as saucers, gasping and backing away from me like I was a leper. “You… you.. you’re a Republican!” , they babbled in disbelief. “Why are YOU here?” I calmly replied, “Because you hired us to play…I am in the band.” They looked at the other guys in the band, who all had a noticeably better tan than me , and then looked at each other totally perplexed. “Well, why are you helping us,.. you’re the enemy?” “Because I am here, and you need the help,” I stated with a quizzical grin returning to the task at hand.

Our gig was to play a few tunes to warm up the crowd, and to play some obscure tune that was the campaign theme song that would cue the candidates entrance. Fortunately, we didn’t get “ lucky” and the Governor did not grace us with his harmonica playing. So, we are looping this tune for an uncomfortable period of time as Dean works the crowd on his way to the stage. Naturally, he would have to step up to the stage on my side first. He smiles at me and then holds out his hand to shake it. I’m thinking “Hey buddy… I’m workin’ here..”. So he extends it again. (O.K., there goes the bottom end of the music). The band leader looks over and mouths to me, “ What the hell are you doing? play! ” Dean then squeezes between me and my rig to get to the drummer (thus knocking my camera off my amp breaking it). By now, I thought the band leader was going to have a heart attack. Howard went through the whole band this way, what a total freaking nightmare.

Later on, as Dean walked the stage of this restored circa 1920’s two story night club, he spoke about Republican born economic injustice and the abuse of the poor. All of these rabid yuppie radicals were hanging over the balconies, frenetically chanting and cheering to this cult of personality. I was struck by the thought that this is what it was like to see V.I. Lenin speak… then I said to myself , “ Class warfare? Racial injustice you’ve seen? You’re a Dr. from Lilly White Vermont speaking to a room of stupid White kids… what the heck do you know, and how could these folks tell the difference anyway?” Total Vermont snow job! He was nothing more than a powerful speaker offering little substance. There is no way that he could have affected change that would have helped the “poor huddled masses”. Dean had a deep seeded desire for power at any cost. He seemed obsessed with inflicting retribution on some nebulous evil entity that haunts him. That is the lasting impression that I took from the presentation. Oh by the way, he still owes me for a camera and a roll of duct tape!

Your vote is sacred. People die for the mere hope of being able to vote. Please don’t dishonor that by voting for a (D) or an (R) just so you can say “Well, my family has always voted straight party line.” or because “ I don’t like that guy, you can’t trust his kind .” Take the time to respect your right and responsibility to vote. Learn about the candidate, and what he or she stands for. You never know how people really are unless you ask them for yourself. I know this is one so called “Fat ignorant Billy Bob redneck Republican” who shocked the hell out of a handful of hardcore “Deaniacs” by being civil. They were terribly mistaken, for I am not the enemy, I am a fellow American with a differing philosophy about government. I am part of a party that cares about ideas, and America’s future, not the color of someone’s skin or the political party they belong to.

If you really want your voice heard just remember, our door is always open!