Republicans Get So Testy When their White Hoods are Exposed

Oct 2,2005

You have to feel sorry for Republicans, their big show of people of color at the 2000 and 2004 Republican National Conventions should have taken care of all this, at least according to their way of thinking. If not, appointing a few tokens to cabinet level positions should have sealed the deal. So, what is this with all of THOSE people being so uppity?

Republicans are mad about how the last few weeks have turned against them, their President and Bill Bennett. They are so mad that in their fury, they are uttering statements bordering on the insane. On Friday, a Fox News reporter, angered by the national indignation against Bill Bennett's statements warned on national television that African Americans should be more angry at Democrats because the legalization of abortion, championed by Democrats, has led to African Americans aborting children in such numbers that African Americans now number less than Hispanics with a corresponding reduction in influence on the political landscape. This twisted, convoluted and racist garbage is bad and over the top even for Fox News, so what gives? Well, I’ll tell you.

As I suggested in the first paragraph, Republicans felt they had this race stuff all figured out without changing their views or addressing the needs and desires of the black community. Not that African Americans were fooled. In just about every district, county and state over the last four years, African Americans vote over 80% Democratic just like they did before. No, it is WHITE Americans who CARE about African Americans who were fooled by Republican ‘compassionate conservative’ rhetoric and now are re-evaluating their political preferences. THAT is what has changed that has affected the Presidents polling numbers and that is what has changed that may affect Bill Bennett. African American groups don’t pay $10,000 to have Bill Bennett speak to them for an hour on a Saturday.

Let me make myself clear on one important point. I don’t believe that most Republicans are racists. But I do believe that Republicans would rather not spend any time, money or effort addressing the needs of the black community. Add the statements in the last two sentences together and I think one gets an attitude of the GOP towards African Americans of what can only be described as a mildly hostile indifference. That is the kind of attitude that would allow President Bush to be completely on top of three major hurricanes hitting Florida in 2004, a swing state during an election year full of white and potentially Republican voters, and on vacation and content to delegate from afar any preparation and response to hurricane Katrina, hitting predominantly black urban New Orleans in a non election year. That is the kind of attitude that would allow Bill Bennett to contemplate the wiping out of all African American babies as an indifferent, philosophical exercise.

Republicans are angry because they got caught in a lie, the lie being compassionate conservatism. And like most people these days that get caught in a lie that can hurt them, instead of doing the right thing and admitting it and taking the steps to make things right, they are getting angry and trying to fight back and cry foul. Unfortunately for them, it won’t work. Republicans will continue to have problems on race issues until they stop dancing around them and start actually caring about and doing something about issues for people of color.

Steven Leser, sleser001@yahoo.com