On race, Cliven Bundy isn't the problem

Rancher Cliven Bundy, right, leaves the podium with bodyguards after a news conference near his ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, on Thursday, April 24. Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management have been locked in a dispute for a couple of decades over grazing rights on public lands.

Chris Shelton of Las Vegas interacts with his 1-week-old son as his mother Shelley Shelton holds his rifle during a Bundy family "Patriot Party" near Bunkerville, Nevada, on April 18.

Bundy family members and supporters of rancher Cliven Bundy set up for a "Patriot Party" on April 18. The family organized the party to thank people who supported Cliven Bundy in his dispute with the Bureau of Land Management.

Cattle rancher Cliven Bundy talks to his supporters Friday, April 11, in Bunkerville, Nevada. They had been protesting the federal government's roundup of Bundy's cattle, which led to an Old West-style showdown last week. The government says Bundy's livestock has been illegally grazing on U.S. lands for 20 years. Bundy says his family's cattle has grazed on the land since the 1800s.

Brand Thornton carries a rifle at a protest site in Bunkerville on April 11. The controversy drew armed militia groups from across the country to Bundy's side. The Bureau of Land Management stopped rounding up Bundy's cattle on Saturday, April 12, and it says it returned about 300 head of cattle to the open range to avoid the potential for violence.

People gather at a protest area along State Route 170, near the cattle roundup on April 11.

A sign announces the closure of public land during the cattle roundup.

Krissy Thornton, right, and Burgundy Hall protest the cattle roundup on Wednesday, April 9.

Thornton, right, looks at a wound on Bundy's son Ammon on April 9. Bundy family members and dozens of supporters angrily confronted a group of rangers holding Tasers and barking dogs on Wednesday. Bundy family members say they were thrown to the ground or jolted with a Taser. Federal officials say a police dog was kicked and officers were assaulted.

The U.S. government was rounding up cattle that it says have been grazing illegally on public lands for more than 20 years, according to the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service. The Bureau of Land Management said Cliven Bundy owed about $1 million in back fees.

Cliven Bundy, left, and his son Dave talk to a reporter in Las Vegas on Monday, April 7. Bundy's dispute with the government began two decades ago, when the Bureau of Land Management changed grazing rules for the 600,000-acre Gold Butte area to protect an endangered desert tortoise, KLAS reported. Bundy refused to abide by the changes and stopped paying his grazing fees to the federal bureau, which he contends is infringing on state rights.

People help erect a pole so that they could hang a banner April 7 in support of Bundy. One banner at the protest side stated: "Has the West been won? Or has the fight just begun!"

Rancher Derrel Spencer speaks during a rally in support of Bundy on April 7.

Chris Miller holds his hand over his heart during a rally in support of Bundy on April 7.

Bundy's son Arden works at his father's ranch on Saturday, April 5.

Cliven Bundy, right, and Clance Cox stand at the Bundy ranch on April 5.

Bundy walks by a free speech area set up by the Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday, April 1.

Federal rangers block a road near Bunkerville, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, on April 1.

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• Granderson: Bashing Cliven Bundy's remarks is easy, but he's not face of today's racism


• He says politicians denounce him even as they push or abide de facto racist policies


• He says gerrymandering, stand-your-ground laws, voter ID laws: all are Racism 2.0


• Granderson: Look for real racism in spending on jails, not schools

Editor's note: LZ Granderson is a CNN contributor, a senior writer for ESPN and lecturer at Northwestern University. Commentary by the former Hechinger Institute fellow has been recognized by the Online News Association, the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. Follow him on Twitter @locs_n_laughs. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Bashing Cliven Bundy for his remarks regarding race is like Lebron James dunking on a 5-foot rim: Pointless. But we're going to do it anyway because it's fun. He said a lot of stupid things, and there are few things more entertaining than well-executed memes and a hashtag in front of stupidity.

The problem is Bundy is not the face of racism.

Not today's version.

But we'll place that yoke on his shoulders anyway because it's easy. Some conservatives will quickly pedal away from the Bundys and the Ted Nugents of the world, insisting that they are not like those rodeo clowns. They don't have a racist bone in their body because they would never make such outlandish statements. But then they turn around and marvel at how "well-spoken" or "articulate" a black person is and think nothing of it.

Politicians of all stripes will publicly denounce the offensive things that Bundy said but continue to construct policies that caters to his sensibilities. Today, racism isn't a crazy old white man with a dead calf on his shoulders proclaiming he's "unracist." No, it's elected officials like Paul Ryan saying inner-city men are "not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work" and then feigning shock that people see a racist element to his statements.

Bundy is just the lightning rod of the moment, just as Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame was before him, and Paula Deen before that.

Rancher's racist comments spark outrage

Rancher's racist comments spark outrage

Bundy: I want what MLK wants

Meanwhile Racism 2.0 is busily working in the shadows, gerrymandering away voting rights and creating legislation that makes pre-emptively shooting dead a young black man who makes you nervous synonymous with standing one's ground. The longer the media allow ignorant relics like Bundy to continue to hog the spotlight -- and the public points at him as the face of conservative racism -- the longer the current incarnation can go unchecked.

That doesn't mean his fight with the government should be ignored. Only that his views -- and thus, importance -- should be kept in perspective. For mispronouncing Rosa Parks' name pales in comparison to the politics of courting a racist electorate. It pales in comparison to the lack of compassion for the five children who were shot Easter Sunday at a park on the south side of Chicago or the characterization of poor people as takers.

During the height of the recession, according to an analysis in The American Prospect, 33 states increased spending on prisons while decreasing spending on education, and we're to believe the disproportionate number of minorities in jail is a coincidence?

So, yeah, yuk it up at Bundy's expense, but don't make him out to be anything more than what he is -- one of the few remaining voices of oppression from years past. Today racism has a different look. A different sound. A softer, more subtle voice... although the song is still the same.

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