Lt. Gov. playing race card on way out the door was despicable

It’s over now, but something has to be said.

It’s over. The strange saga of Lieutenant Governor Dale Caldwell that was kept from the public until NJ Globe’s David Wildstein broke the story. For months Caldwell was under investigation for sexual harassment and misconduct. He had even been put under retraining, then, according to the investigation would go on to offend again afterwards.

Little was said by Governor Mikie Sherrill on the ugly situation even after the investigation came to light. Then came last Thursday night. The report came out finding he had indeed misbehaved numerous times, something Caldwell still disagrees with.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill (L) and newly named acting Secretary of State Shirley U. Emehelu announce Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell's resignation

Sherrill called on him to resign. The following day, he did.

It was over.

But along the way to his resignation Caldwell said something I find offensive. He played the race card.

“While I am troubled by this accusation, as the first single Black man to serve at this level in government, I suspect that there will be other false accusations or rumors in the future,”

he wrote in a letter to the state’s chief ethics officer.

“Unfortunately, in this current political environment, false accusations, especially against people of color, seem to be commonplace.”

Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, Getty Images

If you want to discredit what I’m about to say because I’m white, that’s your call. But not everything is racist just because you say it’s racist.

There is plenty of real racism left in America. True racism is despicable. But if you label everything as racist then nothing is racist. Because if you label everything as racist, it all becomes white noise, no pun intended.

True victims of real racism should have the biggest problem with Caldwell playing the race card. The black driver who is profile stopped in Clark. The black woman who is a financial victim of an insurance company redlining.

However when someone is investigated for misconduct and sexual harassment, talking like a pig to women about them preferring “young sperm,” he’s being judged by the content of his character not the color of his skin.

It’s over, but it bothers me. He wrote about a black man at “this level of government.” Well you know who was a black man serving at the very highest level of government and never had a single credible, substantiated allegation of sexual harassment or infidelity against him?

Barack Obama.

So spare me that this was happening to Caldwell because of race.

His time as Lieutenant Governor is over, but real racism is not. Let’s not use racism as camouflage for bad behavior.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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