Letter from the editor

Don't make the race about race

A phone call earlier this week alerted me to one of the most alarming — yet painfully unsurprising — things I have seen in a long time.

On the Eagle's Web site is a poll feature called "Valley Viewpoints" where readers can weigh in on a pair of questions concerning November's presidential election. Readers of our company's other papers in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Polson and Kalispell can also vote in this same poll.

As of Tuesday morning, slightly over 1,000 votes had been cast (hopefully the work of only a few "voters" with too much time on their hands) on the question "Which of these will influence your vote in the November election," and incredibly, 80 percent of respondents had chosen "race." "Issues" were a distant second with a paltry 16 percent.

Race? In 2008? You've got to be kidding. Vote for John McCain or Ron Paul or Bob Barr or whoever, but for God's sake, do it because you favor their tax policy or stance on universal health care, not because they happen to be white.

When I moved to Montana to attend college in Missoula, a fellow dorm resident asked me, noting my still-evident Tennessee twang, if people were really still racist in the south. Yes, I told him, some people really were. He was shocked and appalled, explaining that Montana was far beyond such reprehensible actions.

This, of course, is hooey. There are plenty of shallow, stupid people in this great state who harbor ill will against others based solely on their skin color, just as there are plenty of such people everywhere.

What is most shocking and depressing to me, however, isn't just the existence of racism here — just look at the recent assaults against migrant workers near Marion — but the vast percentage of respondents who chose race above "issues," "experience," "party," and even "religion."

Obama's sometimes admittedly naive call for unity and change stands little chance in a place where he's written off as a second-class citizen because of his pigmentation.

Anyone who has accomplished what any of the presidential candidates has accomplished to run for the world's highest office deserves to be judged on their merits and shortcomings. Everyone deserves better than to be treated as if it were still 1855.

Eighty percent of respondents cited race as the biggest influence on their vote come November.

In 2008.

Disgusting.

Support the Vikes

Don't forget that Bigfork High School football's first home game of the season is at 7 p.m. on Friday night. The Vikings have a big turnout for the team this year and are looking to pick up their first win of the season against Browning.

The weather is promising to be great, the houseguests have finally left after a long summer and the team could sure use a stadium full of support.

See you there.

—Alex Strickland