Donna Brazile made me cry . . .

On Saturday, October 4th, Jeffrey Toobin hosted a panel discussion with Donna Brazile, Alex Castellanos, Edward J. Rollins, and Joe Trippi. Donna Brazile stole the show by delivering impassioned closing remarks, which made me cheer, but also moved me to tears. I don't if it's because there's been so much fear and hate in the crowds at the McCain and Palin rallies lately, or because I've heard and experienced some remarks bordering on racist during the duration of this campaign. or because I grew up in the 60s, 70s and 80s and can see how far we've come. I don't know. I just know that I got a little bit of catharsis from her words, or something. A bit of inspiration. We must heed her warning. We must not be tricked. We must not be divided.

The bottom line for me is that I don't want my son to grow up in a xenophobic world where race baiting and hate mongering are okay. The rest of the world sees us all as Americans, as not nearly as different from one another as we see ourselves during presidential elections. We must learn to come together. We must not go backwards.

Anyway, here's the New Yorker's take and here's a link to an overview with clips:

Brazile, who managed Al Gore’s 2000 Presidential run and is a frequent commentator on CNN, has taken some heat during the past few months from other prominent African-Americans (including Spike Lee, who said as much in a recent Profile by John Colapinto) upset by her neutrality in the Obama-Clinton race. (As a Democratic superdelegate, Brazile declined to choose a side until Clinton had already dropped out.)

But any uneasiness Brazile may have been feeling on the issue of race has clearly evaporated. Asked for some closing thoughts after the wide-ranging discussion, Brazile paused, then dove in:

I’m gonna say it and get it off my chest, because for the next thirty days, I’m gonna be the best Catholic woman ever….As a child who grew up in the segregated Deep South, we’ve come so far in this country….But I remember when I used to get on the bus: my mother would tell me, “Donna, when you get on the bus, you and your brothers go all the way to the back, and don’t look at anybody.” We have changed. This is a more tolerant, open, progressive society. And yet, we’re having this conversation because [Obama] is biracial. He spent nine months in the womb of a white woman. He was raised…by his white grandparents…He got out of school and went to Harvard, and all of a sudden he’s “uppity” and there’s something wrong with him? What is wrong with us?…You can vote against him, but don’t ever put me in the back of the bus. I’m not going to the back of the bus! I’m not going to be afraid! My black skin does not make me inferior! And may I add: being a female does not make me dumb!

Over rollicking applause, Brazile closed her mini-sermon: “Don’t let people trick you, and distract you and divide you…Don’t let no one take us back! Because many of us are not going back—we’re going forward! And come with us!”

Earlier, the panel’s moderator, Jeff Toobin, had remarked: “It’s Donna’s world; we just live in it.” Now all he could say was: “I will spare the other panelists from having to follow Donna.”

Check out the video here.