It’s amazing to me how this incident has really opened up a dialogue on the race issues in this country.  I feel like I keep posting about Crowley-Gate(s), but at this point it’s not about them anymore.  It’s about institutionalized racism.  Looking at it honestly and hopefully breaking it down til it doesn’t exist anymore.  Hopefully.

Here’s what former Secretary of State Colin Powell had to say about it on Larry King Live…

KING: Were you ever racially profiled?

POWELL: Yes, many times.

KING: And didn’t you ever bring anger to it?

POWELL: Of course. But, you know, anger is best controlled. And sure I got mad.

I got mad when I, as a national security adviser to the president of the United States, I went down to meet somebody at Reagan National Airport and nobody recognized — nobody thought I could possibly be the national security adviser to the president. I was just a black guy at Reagan National Airport.

And it was only when I went up to the counter and said, “Is my guest here who’s waiting for me?” did somebody say, “Oh, you’re General Powell.” It was inconceivable to him that a black guy could be the national security adviser.

KING: How do you deal with things like that?

POWELL: You just suck it up. What are you going to do? It was a teaching point for him. Yes, I’m the national security adviser, I’m black. And watch, I can do the job. So, you have this kind of — there is no African-American in this country who has not been exposed to this kind of situation.

Do you get angry? Yes. Do you manifest that anger? You protest, you try to get things fixed, but it’s kind of a better course of action to take it easy and don’t let your anger make the current situation worse.

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