Sent to the Post January 2003, after Trent Lott's comments at Strom Thurmond's birthday party got him in trouble.

The Trent Lott affair exposed one racist individual. But we are quickly going back to business as usual -- a society rife with gross racial disparities, but where not a single racist is to be found. For example, not one of the Republican Senators who for years supported Lott as their leader has been identified as agreeing with his opinions. Our President, though he may have made a mistake at Bob Jones University and sent the wrong signals about the Confederate flag, is, we are told, entirely free of Lott’s Disease. And though Republican defenders are quick to point to a faux pas by Senator Byrd of West Virginia, no one seriously charges him with racism.

Well, folks, the emperor is just not that well dressed. A generation ago, white supremacy was accepted in most parts of this country by a majority -- north and south. Billions of dollars worth of free labor and stolen land had built not only our great fortunes, but a lot of middle class prosperity. There are still a lot of white folks out here who feel okay about those good old days. And there are a lot more who feel kind of ashamed, but don’t see why they shouldn’t personally continue to benefit from them none the less.

Meanwhile, African-Americans cannot get into the Senate, were kept away from the polls in numbers big enough to elect a President, die a decade earlier than whites, and own a tiny percentage of this nation’s assets. It’s nobody’s fault? Well, perhaps not. Certainly, there isn’t a Headquarters of Racism somewhere with a large staff hard at work. No, there are millions of people with bad habits, mostly not as extreme as Trent’s, but it adds up.

But things have gotten so much better. True, and they got better because a lot of folks pushed and some died. And if there was a signal that it was all right to stop pushing against injustice, I missed it. When will people like me be satisfied? How about when we can all agree on this -- friends don’t let friends have racist habits.