Let me state unequivocally: If you are a black person, and you are voting for Obama solely “because he is black,” then you are by default placing your imprimatur on racism. You are, albeit unknowingly, saying the Klan is right to demand a vote for a candidate solely “because he is white.”

Many polls, if they are to be believed (and some are), show that blacks intend to once again vote overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. If Barack Hussein Obama deserves 95-97 percent of the black vote solely “because he is black,” then Willard Mitt Romney deserves 95-97 percent of the white vote solely “because he is white.” In other words, according to this standard, a candidate’s qualifications for the office – their record, their views on the economy, international affairs – are all irrelevant; all that matters is race. If that is the case, where does it stop? If this is acceptable in the political arena, shouldn’t it be acceptable in everyday life? Could it be that this “old-fashioned preacher” (What was his name? Martin Luther King or something like that?) was out of step when he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”? Why shouldn’t we hire, fire, train or set pay scales based on race? Why not our social mores and civil laws? Shouldn’t academic opportunities be according to, and based on, this same standard? And if classrooms, why not restaurants and restrooms and even water fountains? Finally, shouldn’t cemeteries be selected solely on the basis of race as well? After all, if we are deciding matters, politically or otherwise, solely on the basis of race, just being dead isn’t enough to qualify, is it? Hey, wait a minute? Didn’t I just live through that? Hasn’t almost every American older than 65 already experienced some of that? Has “the land of the free and the home of the brave” turned into a Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) or South Africa where only race matters? Doesn’t the plaque on the Statue of Liberty say something about yearning and freedom?

Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she with silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” –  Statue of Liberty Inscription – The New Colossus, Give me Your Tired

Isn’t that the America many of us marched, demonstrated, fought and, in some cases, died for? Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to recall that among the purposes of all the aforementioned activities was the struggle for the right to cast a free unencumbered vote, based on the conscience of the voter and the qualifications of the candidate. Didn’t I see a campaign slogan somewhere that says “Forward”? If the aforementioned polls are to be believed, then it seems to me many “Freedom Riders” may be on a bus that is in “Reverse”!

Ben Kinchlow
Ben Kinchlow is a minister, broadcaster, author and businessman. He was the long-time co-host of CBN's "The 700 Club" television program and host of the international edition of the show, seen in more than 80 countries. He is the founder of Americans for Israel and the African American Political Awareness Coalition, and the author of several books.