Black Republican Leaves The GOP
We have talked many times previously about the naked appeals to racism that have grown in the Republican party since the election of Barack Obama. One California Republican has finally had enough.
As of late, however, when I look at myself in the mirror there is one question which perplexes me: Can I, in good conscience, remain affiliated with an organization whose message purveyors of racism and bigotry find attractive?
Generally speaking, Republicans are decent people, and naturally, many of my closest friends vote Republican. As with any large organization or group, there will always be people at the fringes who hold views that are not representative of the body.
An organization cannot control the behavior of each individual actor, but it can control its response to abhorrent conduct.
The latest incident in a string of tawdry, race-based actions was the promotion of a racist cartoon by elected Orange County Republican Party Central Committee member Marilyn Davenport. The cartoon depicted President Barack Obama and his parents as chimpanzees, while simultaneously implying that the president is not a legitimate American, but rather an African-born interloper.
While the Orange County GOP chairman and a number of other committee members were quick to condemn the image and Davenport, what’s disturbing is the incredible number of people who continue to defend Davenport’s actions as well as the cartoon itself.
The Republicans are on a path of self-destruction. They aren’t appealing to younger voters and they aren’t appealing to the growing Latino community. I think criticism of Democrats taking the votes of African-American voters for granted is right, but what alternatives are there?
In the meantime, what are African-American conservatives to do? I’m a big supporter of trying to build and influence your party in the direction it needs to go. Can the Republican party be saved now?
Quick answer now is NO
The question should not be “can the GOP be saved’ but rather, “can the GOP be marginalized enough to where they cant hurt the country anymore?”
I keep thinking (hoping) that either the Tea Party Republicans will form their own political party or the moderate Republicans will leave to form a center-right party. It would be interesting to see if a true multi-party system will be coming out of their movement.
The Republicans are on a path of self-destruction.
Then why are we losing to their agenda?
The GOP organization might disappear, but they have successfully transmitted their DNA into the willing host bodies of Democrats.
At least the economic policies, that is. I think we have resisted the racist genes so far.
“The GOP organization might disappear, but they have successfully transmitted their DNA into the willing host bodies of Democrats.”
Amen.
This is the thing, right here — and why the GOP has such a hard time appealing to anyone not quite like them. Because if they can denigrate the legitimate accomplishments and hard work of one ONLY because he has differing ideas about governing, then they will likely do that to you too. And if you’ve done the work of getting degrees and decent jobs and creating a good family and giving back to your community — all things that are otherwise admired — only to have people throw all of that back in your face solely because you are a black person who has dared to disagree with them, you know that these are not people to be trusted. And if you are trying to raise kids with these values — education, hard work, success — you sure don’t want them undermined by the foolishness of the racially resentful.
Now wait just a minute. Wasn’t the chimp often used by liberals — including many Democrats — to represent George W. Bush? How then can you condemn its use by consewrvatives regarding Obama. And don’t say that it is different because Obama is black, because that’s a cop-out. Either Obama is the President of the United States, and subject to the exact sort of commentary, criticism, and insults directed at his predecessors, or he is a black man who requires special accommodations to occupy the office and is therefore somehow less than his predecessors. But at that point, Obama’s race becomes fair game for discussing his fitness and qualifications for the office he holds — a notion that I reject and which I hope you people do as well.
It is different. The negro/ape metaphor is very old in American discourse about black Americans. It is meant to make blacks seem less than whites and therefore worthy of whatever violence comes their way.
Which, of course, you knew. It isn’t as though these images showing the President as an ape or a chimp of an African witch-doctor were meant as fun. If you read this man’s editorial, you would see exactly what he is getting to. Which, of course, is why you are here pretending that you don’t know why any black people would be upset over the ape metaphor — something that has at least 100 years of viability here in the US.
GWB, on the other hand, was depicted as an ape because of his ears. Not because there is some long standing dog whistle in place.
“Now wait just a minute. Wasn’t the chimp often used by liberals — including many Democrats — to represent George W. Bush? How then can you condemn its use by consewrvatives regarding Obama. And don’t say that it is different because Obama is black, because that’s a cop-out.”
This may be the worst attempt of justifying racism that I ever encountered! Pure rationalization fail of the highest order, dripping with self-imposed ignorance and stupidity!
Love the technique of demanding an answer, But don’t give the correct one! He ain’t having any of that!
“The Republicans are on a path of self-destruction. They aren’t appealing to younger voters and they aren’t appealing to the growing Latino community. ”
The Republicans in 14th had BOTH in one person, until they disenfranchised him. Now they’ve elected Libertarian Brent Wangen to be the RD Chair. Good times.
The only way the repukes can win again is l) they disenfranchise voters 2) they allow corporations to buy the election 3) they use the old black box voting (switching votes) like they did in Ohio.4) democrats fed up with obama’s foreign policy dont go to the polls.