In the wake of the Daniel Penny verdict and the reaction of various factions in our society, it is appropriate to share with American Greatness exclusively a chapter from the book, Obvious: Seeing the Evil That’s in Plain Sight and Doing Something About It. In Obvious, “Part Three: Your Life Matters,” I address head-on the scourge of racism in this country.

Particularly, in the chapter titled “Al Sharpton is Not a Race Hustler,” I suggest that the use of euphemisms is not an effective form of fighting obvious racist behavior.

A key question to ask in the current court case would be, “Would Daniel Penny have protected those threatened in the subway car with the same physical force had Jordan Neely, acting in such an erratic and murderous manner, been white?”

The issue for racists is always the color of one’s skin. Whether it’s Al Sharpton or Rep. Jamaal Bowman (among many other “usual suspects,” such as BLM), they do not appear to care about simple truth and observable facts.

In the wake of Donald Trump’s triumphant reelection and with the real possibility that the breaking of the spell of wokeness and political correctness in this country has begun, perhaps the gloves need to finally come off with regard to dealing with the new Scarlet Letter: R. That begins with the proper use of terminology, and conservatives and others of goodwill must not be beholden to what is and is not “permitted” by those on the far left.

Here is how I address the issue of language in just one particular chapter in Obvious:

Al Sharpton is Not a Race Hustler

For years, Al Sharpton has been accused of various things, from race hustler to race baiter to playing the race card. But none of these labels are appropriate.

Being a “race hustler” implies that you outsmarted your mark and caused him to fall for your scheme. The focus is deflected from you to the person hustled and outwitted. The same with being a “race baiter”—your adversary is lured into your trap and, again, duped. And someone who “plays the race card” just beat you at your own game. The hustler, baiter, and card player end up looking good, while the one played looks bad.

These phrases have been invented by the left to allow conservatives and middle-of-the-roaders to label people on the left. Have these phrases ever been used to describe anyone on the right? No. People on the right are always called “racist;” whether they are or not is inconsequential.

The euphemisms have been designed to soften the actions of people on the left. And non-leftists dutifully employ them because they’ve been well-trained.

But if we ever want to see this relatively recent resurgence of ugly racism in this country properly stamped down and eventually crushed out altogether, we need to use the proper nomenclature.

So, no, Al Sharpton is not a race hustler—nor is he a race baiter or a person who plays the race card. Al Sharpton is simply, and unfortunately, a racist.

That’s the bad news.

But here’s the good news. Al Sharpton is also a reverend. In fact, he much prefers being addressed as the Reverend Al Sharpton. And since he is a reverend and a Christian who presumably preaches that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, then Reverend Al Sharpton also knows that Jesus died for the sin of racism. Anyone who repents of that sin—and any sin—is “forgiven indeed.”

It is true that the Reverend Al Sharpton has great influence on American culture. And with that influence comes great responsibility.

What if in the case of the George Floyd tragedy, Reverend Al Sharpton had gone to Minneapolis as a true reverend, as a follower of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace? What if the Reverend had gone there to sit down with all parties concerned to oversee a fair and righteous resolution to this horrific event?

What if Reverend Sharpton had always seen himself as a man famous for both peace and justice and felt that it was his God-given duty to get involved in extremely volatile conflicts involving race? And he believed that he had been “born for such a time as this.”

And because the Reverend was willing to make the effort to initiate a meeting and to put his own reputation on the line for the good of humanity and his country, a solution was worked out. The possibility of a fair trial, one that established the facts and exposed what actually happened (not just what the loudest voices demanded happened).

Once a peaceful solution was acquired, the Reverend Sharpton thanked the God who saved him, the God who was with him to help save others in this terrible situation that could have gotten out of hand and destroyed the lives and property of thousands of people across the country. The Reverend even began writing his sermon for the coming Sunday. He’d call it, “Jesus Christ Matters.” After all, the Reverend knew who made the difference that changed the hearts and minds of angry and difficult people. Reverend Sharpton smiled again as he thought about how he could use this same “peace meeting” template when the next tragedy struck. Sadly, in real life, this plan did not appear to be part of Al Sharpton’s agenda.

When Reverend Sharpton delivered the eulogy at Mr. Floyd’s funeral, he spoke as though Mr. Floyd were a saint. This may or may not be true; however, would a reverend, who believes that he is eulogizing a saint, encourage or be silent in the face of violence being done in the name of that saint? Or, is it more true to character that a godly reverend insists that love and peace be the proper way to accompany a good and decent man to his final resting place?

There’s been much well-meaning talk among “church people” these days that the only way to save this wayward nation is for the “true believers” to have a revival. And humble repentance from the church is needed to set that revival in motion, a revival that could sweep this nation and restore it to an honored place as “a shining city on a hill,” a beacon of hope for all other nations.

Perhaps if all Christians took a knee and prayed that the God of love would repair our land and lead us in wiping away this resurgence of ugly racism, we would begin to see a healing across America.

We need to properly address racism wherever we find it in this country. Racism has once again become fashionable, unfortunately, with the thoughtless acceptance of the “facts” of the 1619 Project and with the forceful implementation of both Critical Race Theory and the oddly monikered concept of “anti-racism.” Why do people who decry the racism of the KKK then turn around and happily accept and support the equally obvious racism of BLM?

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Albin Sadar is the author of Obvious: Seeing the Evil That’s in Plain Sight and Doing Something About It, as well as the children’s book collection, Hamster Holmes: Box of Mysteries. Albin was formerly the producer of “The Eric Metaxas Show.”