Michael Steele Compares Himself to Barack Obama

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele decided to speak publicly about a recent fundraising scandal called "bondage-gate" on ABC's 'Good Morning America.' To the surprise of everyone, Steele mentioned that race plays a role in how both he and President Barack Obama are evaluated. Steele's argument is that black men have a smaller margin of error on the job, and that this may have played a part in how the scandal was perceived.

Steele was discovered to have spent RNC funds in an "interesting" way. In addition to lavish spending on hotels and limos, his team also spent $1,946.25 at a place called The Voyeur West Hollywood Club, which is "a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex." I'm not here to ask why Steele might have been at such a club, but I can imagine that this place might not fit under the banner of Republican family values.

George Stephanopoulos, one of the hosts at ABC News, offered Chairman Steele a question from a viewer named Myron, who asked, "Do you feel that, as an African American, you have a slimmer margin for error than another chairman would?"

"The honest answer is yes," Steele responded. "Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. A lot of folks do. It's a different role for me to play and others to play and that's just the reality of it. But you take that as part of the nature of it."

Steele also claims that his style of RNC leadership differs from that of past chairmen. He says that his style is more "grass roots–oriented," instead of the "old-boy network." Steele said that in response to the "bondage-gate scandal," he fired the staffer who put in for the reimbursement and that the issue is "larger than it needs to be." I am not sure if this is Steele's way of saying that he was never in the strip club himself, but he didn't seem to say that he was or was not there.

"The reality of it is, when I first heard about this behavior going on, I was very angry, and we dealt with it. We got to the bottom of it," Steele said. "We have been putting great controls in place for the last few months, as a matter of fact, on some of our financing."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called Steele's racial remark a "silly comment to make" and also stated that, "I think Michael Steele's problem isn't the race card, it's the credit card."

I found Gibbs' response to Steele to be quite interesting and surprising. I didn't expect anyone from the White House to acknowledge Steele's remarks, but if a reporter asks the question, I guess you have to at least consider answering it. The truth is that Gibbs is wrong and Steele is right. Gibbs' claim that Steele's references to race are "silly" reminds us of how our nation is afraid to honestly confront the issue of race. It's not uncommon for liberal whites to tell African Americans that we are insane when some of us argue that race matters in America.

Both Steele and Obama realize that being black men implies that they have a smaller margin of error in almost everything they do. This tightened margin reflects itself all throughout our society, from the way a professor must maintain his credibility in the classroom to the way a black man greets white folks in the elevator at night. It doesn't mean that all Americans are racist. What it means is that racial stereotypes play a powerful role in how we process the actions of other people. The way Dr. Conrad Murray (Michael Jackson's former physician) or Dr. Jan Adams (the doctor for Donda West, mother of Kanye West) were been turned into national quacks is a great case in point. Similar public reactions have not been targeted toward the doctors of Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith, who also died at the hands of faulty physicians. This is not to say that these men are or are not competent doctors, but the way Murray and Adams were dragged through the public mud like Michael Vick reminds us that race might play a role in how harshly we evaluate the mistakes of others.

At the end of the day, however, both Obama and Steele know what game they're playing. Similar to the ill-advised references to race made by New York Gov. David Paterson, there is an unwritten rule that says that black men who obtain the support of white Americans must accept the racial unfairness inherent in American politics. You join the game, play the game and reap the benefits of the game, while the expectation from much of America is that you keep your mouth shut when the game doesn't work in your favor. So, while race certainly matters in how both Barack Obama and Michael Steele are evaluated, this is the life they chose.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, "Black American Money." To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.