Hey Grim, “Change” isn’t supposed to be an acronym!

Well, a certain 7th grade teacher in Florida would beg to differ.

A Marianna middle-school teacher has been suspended for 10 days without pay after he wrote a racially charged interpretation of a commonly used phrase in the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama.

While some parents and community activists were outraged by the actions of Greg Howard, Jackson County NAACP officials want to gather more facts before the group considers taking action. But some parents feel Howard should be fired.

Larry Moore, deputy superintendent for the Jackson County School District, said school officials determined Howard wrote an acronym with an explanation on a dry-erase board in his class Sept. 26 at Marianna Middle School.

It said, “C.H.A.N.G.E. — Come Help A (N-word) Get Elected.”

I would like to take a moment and applaud Mr. Howard and salute his courage.  Sure, it would be easy to join in the chorus of folks demanding his head for being a racist prick.  Sure, it would be easy to point out that this redneck has no business being near children, much less teaching them.  Sure, it would be easy to dismiss him as just another member of the inbred-slack jawed-hillbilly-terra cotta toothed-sister fucking-redneck morons in this country who still think that the color of a person’s skin matters when it comes to holding the office of President.

No.  I think more Americans who think this way should make themselves heard.  I think every racist imbecile in America should speak up loud and proud and declare their feelings for all the world to see.

That way, I know where they are and can avoid contact.  That kind of stupidity might be contagious.

Years ago, back when he was still funny, Dennis Miller had a line about racism in the public discourse.  He had words for all of those who were galled that groups like the KKK could hide behind First Amendment protections while parading their idiocy in front of the entire world.

(loosely paraphrased)

“Having the First Amendment in this country results in politicians like David Duke.  No First Amendment results in politicians like Adolf Hitler.”

While it might frighten you that hicks like this have a vote that counts just as much as yours does, take heart that there are a lot more of “us” out there than there are of “them”.  Making them part of the public discourse will further marginalize their viewpoints and make it much for difficult for a political party to cater to that base.  It’s not like those ideas are going to survive very long in the glare of the public spotlight.  Racism is a mushroom.  It thrives when in the dark and surrounded by bullshit.