Politics of Race Maturing in America?

Well, perhaps that is too profound a conclusion to reach based on the relatively trivial and short-lived controversy that Representative McKinney drummed up last week. But, as a friend pointed out to me in property class the other day, it is a relief when someone inappropriately plays the race card, and gets absolutely nowhere with it, despite the complicity of the media in helping her try to make a security incident a racial issue. It wasn't that long ago that Chicago's own 'Reverend' Jesse Jackson was able to make headway in the defense of a number of students caught on videotape in an act of mob violence by claiming that the defendants were being discriminated against because of their race. It's nice to know that America is apparently maturing to the point that we can tell meritorious allegations of racism from the cheap shots that would otherwise damage the credibility of actual victims of racial discrimination.