The Republican Racist Campaign

[Joanne98]

By David M Whalin - August 1, 2008, 9:40PM

Some will find this somewhat inflamatory, but it needs to be said. I am a white Southerner who saw the overt racist campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s as well as the less overt subsequent campaigns which were almost all Republican. I am proud that I played a very, very small part in ridding the Democratic Party racism as a very, very minor "foot soldier." I remember vivdly watching Jesse Helms "editorials" on Raliegh Channel 5 while attending Duke University in the mid 1960s and how that station signed off with Dixie rather than the Star Spangled Banner or America the Beautiful. I also observed the segregationists leaving the Democratic Party in 1964 and being welcomed by the Republicans with Strom Thuromnd and Jesse Helms being the primary instruments integrating them into the Party of Lincoln.

The McCain campaign's Spears/Hilton ad is a vicious appeal to the baser racist instincts in some of the American electorate. It is somewhat more substle than the RNC "blond bimbo" ad run against then Rep. Harold Ford in 2006. It is a blatant appeal to the racist myth that African-American males are a threat to ravish white women and must be stopped by any means. If Senator Obama is subjected to physical attack, this ad will be one of the instigators.
This racist myth has its origins in European anti-semitism wherein one of the "inflamatory" myths propounded was that of the rapacious Jew whose most fervent desire was to ravish Christian virgins (female). This myth, or memory as some refer to it, was imported into the racist cannon in the form of the "fact" that black men had as their sole purpose the desire to ravish white women, especially the blond and purportedly virginal. This was used during slavery as a means of represion and became even more virluent after the civil war. Countless African-American men were lynched to perpetuate this memory.

Continued>>>
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/08/the-republican-racist-campaign.php

I thought the same thing. The first time I saw the ad, I thought, "Birth of a Nation".

[madaboutharry]

1. I saw it much the same way.

I thought they were trying to make him look like a pimp.

[Joanne98]

2. Exactly.

[BlooInBloo]

3. Of course. Just like the Missouri ad.

[Frances]

4. White southern women were supposed to be

very afraid of African American males, but they were also supposed to turn a blind eye to their husbands raping African American women. The saddest part of slavery, to me, is that white slave owners sold children they had conceived with unwilling female slaves to other slave owners.

[creeksneakers2]

5. The GOP is still way into using racism as a tool

There's a concerted effort on from the right wing to make this election about race. Its no coincidence that McCain's out of the blue race card accusations come in the same week as the right wing promoted sleazy guilt-by-association accusations using the rap star Ludacris.

It goes straight to the top. Today, George Bush, his father and his brother Jeb called up the Rush Limbaugh show and gushed praise and congratulations on the lying, hating and racist host. The GOP obviously approves of inflammatory racial programming on the radio.

Limbaugh followed up the president's call with his often used racist pronouncement that only blacks are allowed to criticize blacks and whites are forbidden. Limbaugh maintains this even though he smears Obama daily himself. McCain attacks all the time too. Limbaugh's pronouncement is designed to inflame racial hatreds.

Limbaugh then put his staff member, Bo Snerdly, on the air. Limbaugh says Snerdly can criticize Obama because Snerdly is black.

Then Snerdly impersonated a black stereotype who was angry with Obama for condemning lyrics by the rapper Ludacris. Then Snerdly said he would "translate" his comments for the "brothers and sisters in the hood," implying,if not outright saying, that blacks can't understand plain English.

Snerdly then went into a rant using slang that supposedly "the brother's and sisters" could understand. He said "yo" this and "homey" that all the while pretending to be an angry black on the side of Ludacris, who is the current object of right wing outrage. One message of the whole bit was that blacks endorse the offensive statements by Ludacris.

Limbaugh routinely uses Snerdly this way. Limbaugh describes his overall theory of race in politics as the "liberal plantation." According to Limbaugh's theory, liberals provide welfare to blacks so that blacks will be poor and need the government, and thus can be enslaved by liberals. Blacks are willing coconspirators, presumably because they prefer welfare to working, and call any black who wishes to work hard for a living an Uncle Tom. With his theory, Limbaugh promotes the idea that all blacks are lazy and on welfare, hate blacks who work, when in fact 88% of blacks are employed, compared to 93% of whites. Limbaugh also assumes that blacks are too stupid to know what's good for them and blacks are all in a big dishonest conspiracy together.

A general theme of Limbaugh's show is that blacks and liberals are the real racists and that white conservatives are under constant evil attacks from those who wish to continue "the liberal plantation." In reality,the whole theme is there to provoke white anger at blacks and liberals.

The GOP has been using racism as a wedge to get white votes since Nixon came up with the plot. If the president can call up a bigot like Limbaugh and congratulate him on "important and excellent broadcasting" and even go on to say he appreciates "the contribution you've made" then the entire GOP must be completely comfortable with racial hatred as an election tool