There is no racism in the Republican Party
The last time I mentioned Republicans’ problem with racism, I was talking politics with a couple Republican friends of mine. They denied up and down that racism is a problem in the Republican Party, and that the Bush-led GOP has been welcoming to minorities. Well, it doesn’t seems like everyone got the memo:
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The leader of a statewide group of college Republicans has been forced to resign after posting racially insensitive comments about Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama on the Internet.
Adam LaDuca, 21, the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans, wrote on hisFacebook page in late July that Obama has “a pair of lips so large he could float half of Cuba to the shores of Miami (and probably would.)”
LaDuca, who previously had calledMartin Luther King Jr. a “pariah” and a “fraud,” also wrote: “And man, if sayin’ someone has large lips is a racial slur, then we’re ALL in trouble.”
The College Republicans asked LaDuca to resign after his remarks were publicized by the Pennsylvania Progressive, a blog written by a Democratic committeeman from Berks County. The group announced LaDuca’s resignation on its Web site Friday.
“The comments were completely uncalled for and very offensive,” said Anthony Pugliese, 22, a senior at West Chester University and chairman of the College Republicans, an umbrella group with more than 50 chapters statewide. “The P-A College Republicans do not accept or tolerate racism in any way.”
Let’s be honest folks: the GOP might not be a racist party, but it almost certainly is the party of racists, bigots, and assorted haters. Republicans built their party on a foundation of racial resentment, and now – with few exceptions – refuse to acknowledge it. The whole thing would be pretty hilarious if it’s effect on our politics weren’t so damn pernicious.
cross-posted at Feministe
The next time your GOP friends give you grief, tell them to read this:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-14-GOP-racial-politics_x.htm
From the article:
“Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman apologized to one of the nation’s largest black civil rights groups Thursday, saying Republicans had not done enough to court blacks in the past and had exploited racial strife to court white voters, particularly in the South.”
So even the Republican Party bigwigs have acknowledged it’s a problem.
And how about JC Watts:
“Former Congressman J.C. Watts says he’s frustrated with the Republican Party leadership but says he will support John McCain… Watts spoke yesterday to Oklahoma and Louisiana delegates at the Republican National Convention… He says the GOP has been “pathetic” in building relationships with African-Americans…”
It’s an AP story that you can see here:
http://www.kten.com/global/story.asp?s=8952108
And as you have the time, feel free to visit:
http://allotherpersons.wordpress.com/
There apparently is no bridge, either… I thought this might amuse you ;)
http://opedna.com/2008/09/09/seven-times-sarah-thanks-but-no-thanks-for-that-bridge-to-nowhere/
re: “Republicans built their party on a foundation of racial resentment”
Democrats were the party of slavery pre/during the civil war.
Not denying that Republicans have been on the wrong side of the race issue, but to be fair, so have Democrats.
Great post!
{re: “Republicans built their party on a foundation of racial resentment”
Democrats were the party of slavery pre/during the civil war}
Justin, I’m perfectly willing to concede that Democrats were the party of racial resentment 50-150 years ago, if you’ll concede that the Republicans are the party of racial resentment today.
http://allotherpersons.wordpress.com/
I’ll say that there are still Republicans that hold racial resentments. But I won’t say that the party is one of racial resentment. The main party planks are not racial issues, and most people that would choose to vote republican do not do so based on racial reasons. I would also say though that Democrats likely have just as many people with racial resentments. I would also say that there are people in the Democrat party that have racial resentments. In fact you could probably find racists in the Green party and Libertarian party as well. The fact is you cannot assign the wrong thoughts of individuals in a group, to that group. And you can’t necessarily fault a group for the people that choose to align themselves with it.
Sorry about the repeat sentence, I should learn to proofread before hitting submit…
Just a few last words. I’m not the one said that the GOP has exploited racial strife to court white voters, particularly in the South; Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Committee Chairman in 2005, said it. Do you disagree with him, as well?
And yes, I CAN assign the wrong thoughts of individuals in a group, to that group… that’s EXACTLY what Mehlman did when he admitted that the GOP was exploiting racial division.
Your comment that there are racists everywhere is of course true. But which party is exploiting that to win elections?
I would just close by saying this. At the Democratic Convention, 24% of the delegates were black; just 1.5% of delegates at the Republican Convention were black. The US population is 12-13% black.
If there is racial resentment in the Democratic Party, it hasn’t prevented the Party from practicing diversity and inclusion.
As for the 1.5% of RNC delegates who were black… well, that statistic speaks for itself.