Republicans and People of Color

by Tex Norman⁽⁷⁸⁾

I recently heard some things that disturbed me, because I thought they were untrue. I have read, and heard on news casts that the Republican Party is primarily a white person’s party. I remember someone making that point at the convention when the camera scanned the delegates and hardly a dark skinned person could be found anywhere. I could, of course, see that there were not many people of color in the Republican Party, but I blamed that primarily on the historic allegiance Republicans have had with money, and big business. I thought this was true because, after a long ugly period of discrimination against our own citizens because of the color of their skin, some of those Jim Crow-like laws and attitudes had started to ease up, and some people of color were not just doing OK, some people of color were getting rich. I note that we are starting to see some people of color being active in the Republican Party. Michael Steele is a man of color and he is the elected head of the Republican Party. So the allegations that Republicans have racially discriminating leans seemed, well, just wrong.

But recently I read something that puzzled me. It was about Ronald Reagan who ushered in a long successful period for the Republican Party. It turns out that after his nomination was secured, Reagan gave his very first speech as THE Republican candidate for President near a little town called Philadelphia, Mississippi. In that kicking off the campaign speech Ronald Reagan said:

“I believe in states’ rights. . .”

Why there? Why would Reagan choose Philadelphia, Mississippi to give his very first speech as the Presidential nominee of the Republican Party near a tiny little town in the center of Mississippi?

Some claim that Reagan gave this first speech of the campaign there because he had something called the Reagan Southern Strategy, but that explanation is not enough. One might assume that Reagan was targeting voters in Mississippi specifically, but we still have to wonder why there? There are dozens of spots in Mississippi where it would have been easier for the media to get to, places of higher visibility, but Reagan picked an out of the way place no one had ever heard of, almost. I say almost because there is one other event that took place in Philadelphia Mississippi that sort of stands out. Philadelphia, Mississippi is the same place where three civil rights workers were murdered by white supremacist in 1964. To get an idea about this incident watch the movie Mississippi Burning.

Now, when you combine these three incidents, the murder of civil rights workers, the fact that of all the places Reagan could kick off his Presidential campaign he picked the site of a racially motivated murder, and then stir in the part about how much Reagan supports states rights and you have some indication that racial discrimination is, at least for some, a Republican issue.

Article submitted Tuesday, April 21, 2009 & read 631 times.

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» left by Vince Robertson⁽⁴⁰⁾ (2 years 292 days ago.)

Yep Tex, there doesn’t seem to be middle ground on this. With all the hate speech coming from the conservative Christian right today, it makes perfect sense that what is currently called the “Bible Belt” used to be called “the Confederacy.”

» left by Anonymous (2 years 288 days ago.)

Liberals, really

» left by Anonymous (2 years 287 days ago.)

Liberal and proud of it, sort of. I hope we are pragmatic, and working to free ourselves of racial bias, and more for the middle class than the ultra rich.

» left by Anonymous (2 years 280 days ago.)

Do you really believe that Tex? "Free ourselves of radical bias". It seems we are in truth getting more radical talk from the Democratic Liberal wing when they lump vets and Christians together as ral concerns? Where is the outcry here Tex from the Liberal crowd? Tex, really, do you really believe the Liberals, Reid, Polosi, Schumer are working hartd for working stiffs, the little guy?

8-1-2-0-3-ADSO

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