I wrote about how the almost demonic Associated Press waited mere hours before trying to inject polarizing racial politics into the disastrous Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, even though the calamity has exactly zero to do with race. But that doesn’t matter to progressive journalists; they want to get their woke takes in regardless of what topic is actually at hand.

See: Repugnant AP Tries to Inject Race Into Tragic Baltimore Bridge Collapse, Drags Up Namesake's Slavery Past

It didn’t take much imagination to see where this was going—it was an obvious pre-game maneuver preparing for the future demand to rename the bridge, when it’s reconstructed, after somebody who more represents modern leftist culture—perhaps they’ll call for the Rev. Al Sharpton Bridge or the Hillary Clinton Crossing. Someone who is shrill, loud, and polarizing but who has done little to actually improve the lives of average Americans.

As many noted on X/Twitter, it won’t be long before someone at MSNBC demands that it be named “The George Floyd Memorial Overpass.”

And the hate-mongers didn’t disappoint, quickly forgetting about the dead bodies still at the bottom of the frigid Baltimore Harbor, the pain of their families and loved ones, or the reality that this collapse will bring intense economic pain for years to Baltimore and its residents.  

See: Will Baltimore Survive the Closing of Its Port?

None of that matters to them; what’s more important is dividing our country. Enter Wayne Washington, who the self-described black news website “The Root” called a “brilliant journalist based in Florida,” who proudly and unabashedly plays the race card in a nasty op-ed published to the Root’s cyberpages Wednesday. 

He makes no effort to hide his divisive intent:

I know there are those who are frothing now, pointing out that I’m “playing the race card” during this tragedy.

And my response is…yep, I am most definitely doing precisely that.

There you have it; neither shame nor decency seems to be in his dictionary. Only pushing hate between the races.

He trashes Francis Scott Key’s legacy and says that his 200-year-old mores are worthy of permanent cancellation. Key has a paradoxical past, that’s true; he went on record opposing the practice of slavery, but it’s undeniable that he also owned some. Yet what does that have to do with a cargo ship slamming into a bridge in 2024?

These names should be considered for the future bridge, argues Washington. 

So, when the new bridge spans the Patapsco [River], name it something other than the Key Bridge.

Lots of Americans — hell, lots of Marylanders — are far more worthy of the honor. Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass immediately come to mind.

Hell, we don’t even have to go back that far. What about Thurgood Marshall? Or the late congressman, Elijah Cummings?

Wait, what? The only decent Marylanders that should be considered for the honor are black Americans? The implication is that obviously white people should not even be looked at. 

It’s so tiring—and yet so predictable—that leftists try to divide us along racial lines at every opportunity. A horrific bridge catastrophe? Forget the dead people, let’s talk about racism!

"If, after this tragedy, we can focus on the urgent need to turn away from spit-in-the-face insults to Black Americans," he continues, "count me in on some of that." Wayne, newsflash: we are not at the point where we are "after" this tragedy; we are still right smack in the middle of it. Can't you have the decency to wait until at least we have the bodies recovered before you shove your racial polemic down our throats? 

Wasn’t Obama supposed to bring us a post-racial nation? It seems to me that he and his legacy have brought us nothing but outrage and a permanent distrust of each other among a citizenry that had been moving closer to unity and equality (not “equity”) before his arrival on the scene.

Washington’s words—and the AP’s—show a complete lack of empathy for the souls who perished at the bottom of the Patapsco River and a narcissistic obsession in reliving the past of two centuries ago. 

None of this does anything to improve the America of 2024, and yet, here we are, and a writer is proud of race-baiting in the midst of misfortune—"playing the race card... yep, I am most definitely doing precisely that."

This is progress?