The GOP needs to ask itself if they still want to be the party of Lincoln. Right now, they are looking an awful lot like the party of David Duke and ‘Bull’ Connor.
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
The GOP needs to ask itself if they still want to be the party of Lincoln. Right now, they are looking an awful lot like the party of David Duke and ‘Bull’ Connor.
Jerald Cumbus is a blogger, political activist, writer, poet, blogger, critic and small business owner. He resides in a small town in North Florida. A long-time blogger, he was an early member of the Democratic Underground website were he has written and posted as JCMach1 since 2001.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Glenn Contrarian
And you're absolutely right - but prepare to be castigated by the BC conservatives who are absolutely convinced that there's little or no racism among the Republicans or the Tea Party.
BTW - Dubai? or Abu Dhabi? Been to Dubai quite a few times - nice place!
2 - Andy Marsh
Of course he's right Glenn - A bunch of white, racist motherfuckers just elected the first black man as president. We must ALL be racists!
And let us not forget that racist bastion of Virginia, fucking southern states. Was it NY or MA that elected the first black governor???? No it wasn't! It was a fucking racist southern state that did it!
This shit isn't even worth reading! I've got better things to do...shit, I'd rather watch the wedding than read another whining liberal's assesment of what's wrong with EVERYONE else.
I love how liberals call losing semi-successful!!! WTF is that? Semi-successful candidacies? He fucking lost, what's successful about that?
Oh, now I get it...another professor! 'Nuff said!
3 - Braden
Okay, absolutely nothing you said proves that the GOP is racist. You point to David Duke, who has no current affiliation with the GOP and the GOP currently has nothing to do with him.
If the GOP is the party of David Duke, Democrats are the party of Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist church, who is a lifelong Democrat and was a delegate for Al Gore at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. So by your awful, ill-conceived guilt-by-association game, Democrats are just as much the party of hatred as the GOP.
You keep saying the TEA party is racist but provide no proof. You took one state legislator's comment on a bill in Oklahoma and ran with that. So you're still playing guilt-by-association there. But your actual proof for racism being some real plank of any TEA party or GOP platform is pulled out of thin air.
I suppose you would gladly overlook the fact one of the major stars in the TEA party movement is Congressman Allen West, an African American from Florida. Or perhaps Herman Cain, an African-American GOP candidate for president in 2012. Oh wait, what about the GOP's former chairman Michael Steele? Or we could go old school with Frederick Douglass or Martin Luther King, Jr. Take your pick. I'll keep my fingers crossed to see if your association game works both ways.
Oh and how about Democrat racists? The late Senator Robert Byrd who was an actual klansman who said he would rather see Old Glory trampled in the dirt than see this nation overtaken by "race mongrels." Or George Wallace, who while he supported segregation as a member of the Democrat party. And I would say Jeremiah Wright too, but oh well... I guess Democrats are all racist too.
Okay, just say the word "racist" one more time and maybe people will believe it. No proof, no evidence necessary, just say it. Glenn will nod his head in agreement, as long as it makes conservatives look bad, no proof necessary for him either.
4 - Jay
I live in the south. Racism is alive and well... the last two people who I took note of and would fairly classify as "racists" was a plumber at my house who was a democrat and told me he a Hillary Clinton supporter because "I just can't bring myself to vote for a black man for president" and a cable guy at my work who doesn't vote at all but claims he isn't racist because "I have colored TV". So from my first hand experience it would seem there are just as many racists that vote democrat and don't vote at all as there would be in the TEA party. Though, having gone to about 4 Tea Party Rallies (Two in DC) I can say other than the RARE scattering of "Obama is Hitler" signs (And I do mean rare) I saw no evidence of racism... the black people who were at the rally, participating, would have felt pretty uncomfortable if there were a lot of racists at those rallies.
5 - Jerald Cumbus
I always wear my helmet on such occasions... As always the right can dish it out. Remember Rush Limbaugh calling Sotamayor and President Obama racists?
Remember Willie Horton? That was George W. Bush's idea... Or, remember Jesse Helms? Macaca? The Harold Ford Jr. playboy ad. IF I wanted to to an account on the full extent of racism this piece would have had to be a book.
@Glenn, Sharjah to be precise about it.
6 - Glenn Contrarian
See what I mean, Jerald?
Perhaps these Republicans aren't aware that the government once had to sue Donald Trump in order to get him to open his rentals to blacks.
Perhaps these Republicans aren't aware that a poll less than a month ago showed that 46% of ALL Republicans in MS still think that interracial marriage should be illegal.
Earlier this week, a GOP representative in Kansas stated that blacks don't work as hard as whites...and blamed it on the government, of course.
And if you believe the Republicans and the Tea Partiers, racism has absolutely NOTHING to do with 'birtherism'. Riiiiiight.
And then there's the racist statements that were printed in Ron Paul's name in Ron Paul's newspaper...that the Republicans are claiming aren't at all his fault.
I could go on all day long listing racist actions and statements and tendencies by GOP politicians, but I have NEVER said that all Republicans are racist - but it is a FACT that a lot are, and feel greatly threatened by the fact that we've got a black man in the white house. Anyone who says otherwise is either in denial or a flat-out liar.
7 - Braden
Glenn, for every Republican you have that is a so-called racist, there's a Democrat that is either racist or a hate-monger like Fred Phelps. I love how you STILL have no proof that connects the TEA party to racism, but you make up a mythical connection because you presume it's implied.
I'd like to see some documentation on your Mississippi anecdote. And you may have mixed up the Kansas representative with the Oklahoma one mentioned in this article.
Furthermore, I would say that since you have no proof of these allegations between the TEA party/GOP and racism, you are creating a stereotype, which could be construed along the same lines as saying "blacks don't work as hard as whites." You're doing the exact same thing that you harp on the "racist GOP" for. How interesting... This must be why you can't answer for the skeletons in the Dem closet or the crosses on Robert Byrd's front lawn.
Your anecdotal stereotype creation is mirrors the racist behavior you rail against. That's the pot calling the kettle black. Oops, please don't call me a racist for saying that....
8 - Jerald Cumbus
Fred Phelps is a Dem...? I think he just qualifies as LOON.
So, the Birther thing was just about legality??? I don't think so... the racist dog whistle springs into action...
ALIEN
NOT-AMERICAN
SHOW YOUR PAPERS
I will ask you one very legitimate question... Would the same people have done the same to John McCain who had legitimate issues due to overseas birth?
Answer=NO
Why= The people who started the issue and who promulgated it CANNOT ACCEPT an African American as President full stop...
9 - Baronius
Jerald, if you'll recall the 2000 election with the Jeb/Harris conspiracy theories, and the 2004 election with the Diebold conspiracy theories, you'll realize that unfortunately a lot of people make up foolish stories rather than accept their political losses.
10 - Jerald Cumbus
The purging of the voter rolls is real enough as were all of the other well-documented problems in Florida. And there are huge problems with the voting apparatus in this country. Have you not been paying attention?
Have you forgotten that recent race in WI? No conspiracy theories there... it was majorly majorly messed-up.
11 - Boeke
Out of curiosity, how many African-Americans has the GOP sent to congress in the past 50 years? How many republicans in the Congressional Black Caucus?
12 - Jerald Cumbus
I remember Allen West-FL currently (don't think he is a member of the caucus) ... JC Watts of OK. Did I forget anyone? Tim Scott, SC that's all the recent ones anyway...
13 - Baronius
Jerald - See? Everyone's got a button.
14 - S.T..M
I think it's amazing that the Obama-Dunham families had the foresight to bodgy up Barack's birth, falsely have him registered in Hawaii, organise to have birth notices posted in the Honululu Advertiser, and everything else, just in case, one day, he might become president of the United States.
That's American ingenuity.
Unlike the fake Kenyan certificate, which was a copy of a birth certificate from the State of South Australia (all the certificates are slightly different in each state of Australia, but remarkably, South Australia's appears near identical to that of Kenya ... a country of a different continent!).
Probably the telling factor about the alleged Kenyan Obama birth certificate, though, is that it bears the stamp of the Republic of Kenya.
The only problem is, Kenya didn't become a republic until a full year after the date of issue.
It WAS independent, but as a Dominion, like Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
It'd be a bit like Canada handing out birth certificates with Republic of Canada on them.
It's not, and they don't.
That's the level to which this debate has sunk. And yes, I'd bet if he was a white fella, no one would be batting an eyelid. And yes, of course there is a race aspect to this.
However, I think it's wrong to suggest the GOP is racist. There might be some racists associated with it - they're everywhere, you know - but I suspect it's a small hard core of idiots who think the birther debate is real.
Plenty of those on the right know it's total lunacy and realise it is damaging the party as a whole ... including our own Dave Nalle.
The birthers are conspiracy theorists who will, bizarrely, trace the conspiracy all the way back to the President's birth ("hey Martha, you never know, one day he MIGHT become president").
They are in the same league as the truthers, who refuse to believe that a pack of lunatics could plot and carry out an attack on the US without US help.
Such is the price of democracy, however, so it's not all bad even if it's wrong ...
15 - Roger B
JC Watts was some years ago and quit in anger at the republicans.
Again I ask, how many black congressmen have the republicans sent to congress in the last several years? IIRC, the answer is few or none.
IIRC, there are no republican members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
16 - Baronius
Jerald - My button, by the way, is that I get livid about race-baiting. It's a form of bullying. I should recognize that false accusations of racism are generally motivated by a decent desire to protect people from bullies, and aren't intended to be mean-spirited. But I have a short fuse with them anyway.
17 - Jerald Cumbus
In a non-partisan spirit, the Republican party really needs to show people like Kerns the door! It also really needs to slap people like Limbaugh around when they get a case of verbal diarrhea. It also needs to cut out the race-tinged dog whistle that is birtherism and simply say it is wrong. The real point of my article is to point out the danger the GOP faces. I wish that the leadership would directly condemn this stuff when the issue of race comes up. All too often it's CRICKETS.
18 - Glenn Contrarian
Roger B -
If you'll check, the Republicans have sent a total of less than ten African-Americans to Congress since 1900. IIRC, the current total is something like seven.
But we have to bear in mind, now, that there's no racists there....
19 - Cannonshop
Without race-baiting, without the idea that any opposition to President Obama is rooted solely and completely in the colour of his skin, his supporters have nothing to use in his defense. The man's policy initiatives at best have a record of stunning mediocrity, and on average have proven to be a string of well-intentioned failure mixed with shoddy, half-assed and abandoned efforts. Anyone that can make Jimmy Carter look good, has a problem, and if Obamaniacs couldn't use the cry "RAAAAACIST!!!" on his opponents, they'd have nothing to talk about.
It is fortunate for Democrats indeed, that there ARE idiots out there willing to give them material-Birthers, the useful idiots without whom, Dems would have to actually examine the ACTIONS of their hero.
20 - Glenn Contrarian
Braden -
Your contention that the Democrats are somehow "just as racist" is a false argument. Tell me, can you show me ANY evidence that there's racism among the left that even comes close to this poll earlier THIS year - not thirty years ago, but THIS year - where 46% of ALL Republicans in Mississippi STILL think there should be a ban on interracial marriage?
Braden, there's a REASON why the vast majority of Republican conventions and Tea Party meetings are almost completely lily-white. Most Republicans DO honestly try to not be racist...but they also DO tolerate racism among their fellow Republicans. The poll above is proof of that!
21 - Jerald Cumbus
@Cannonshop criticize Obama as much as you like on substance. I may even agree with you from time to time.
There is no need to introduce race. If Republicans want to continue poisoning the well, it's their party.
22 - Boeke
So, tell me, Cannonshop: how many black republicans have the republicans sent to congress in the past 50 years?
Braden?
Any volunteers?
23 - Glenn Contrarian
C-shop -
So...if racism has so little to do with it, then WHY do 46% of Republicans in MS STILL think there should be a ban on interracial marriage? See the link in reply #21.
24 - Boeke
No volunteers, so I started doing a quick search to determine how many republicans in congress are black, because surely if republicans are not racist then they would send a 'reasonable' number of blacks to congress (which probably means the House in this case).
I found this:
Politico
"Membership in the Congressional Black Caucus has never been restricted to Democrats," CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee said in a statement to POLITICO. "Should either of the two African-American Republicans recently elected to the House of Representatives request membership in the Congressional Black Caucus, they will be welcomed."
Lee's statement noted that, "during the 40-year history of the Congressional Black Caucus, there have been three African-American Republican members of the House of Representatives. Two congressmen, Melvin Evans of the Virgin Islands and Gary Franks of Connecticut, decided to join the Congressional Black Caucus, however, Congressman J.C. Watts of Oklahoma did not."
Last week, POLITICO reported that freshman-elect Allen West, who defeated Ron Klein in Florida's 22nd District, was interested in joining the caucus. "That has been a monolithic voice in the body politic for far too long. There is a growing conservative black voice in this country," West said.
The only other black Republican elected this cycle, Tim Scott of South Carolina's 1st District, is less interested in joining. "I haven't really decided. I'm probably leaning against it at this point," said Scott, who served in the South Carolina Legislative black caucus for his first year before dropping out because he felt the ideological differences were too great. "My experience has been the whole notion of one nation â€" so I really shy away from things that create some kind of boundaries. ... It highlights the divisions I've been pushing forward to erase."
That looks pretty thin, to me.
25 - Dan
"The GOP needs to ask itself if they still want to be the party of Lincoln. Right now, they are looking an awful lot like the party of David Duke and ‘Bull’ Connor"---Jerald Cumbus
It's difficult to imagine what that would look like since Bull Connor was a Democrat and Abe Lincoln expressed sentiments such as:
"I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races. I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people. And I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will ever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."
Ah well, history is subjective to the perspective of the interpreter eh? All perspectives ...equal in validity?
My interpretation for what Jerald observes is that the Democrat party is the party in transition and whites are fleeing an increasingly explicit anti-white party. If anyones "mask" is slipping, it's theirs.
It could be that, as the party gets more diverse racially, it will become even more aggressive in its anti-white zeal. The congressional black caucus is there already.
Who would have thought that the Clintons would have been so roundly accused of "racism" in their campaign strategy? Then there is Prof. Gates and the Cambridge police officer who acted "stupidly". And the Black Panthers redux, intimidating white voters with billy clubs, get their criminal charges dropped?
Some whites are seeing this and getting out. I know of some.
There are fissures developing in the Democrat party. To the dismay of white liberal Californians, black voters were the decisive blow to killing a gay marriage referendum. How do muslim fundamentalists and female feminists get along?
Republicans have not been ideal conservatives. Not even close. But for the most part they have remained consistent about appealing to those who would prefer to live in a colorblind society. At least when you compare them to the race obsessivests in the Democrat party.