Enough of calling only Republican racists

[question everything]

said Micheal Steele to Wolf (cannot find the transcripts, yet)

It came after a report about racist comments on a Young Republican website.

Well, Mr. Steele, there were racists among the Democrats, too. They were called Dixicrats and... they switched party.

Seriously, though, look at last year Presidential elections. We started with about 20 candidates in both parties (I am too lazy to look for the correct number).

The Democrats included a Latino, a woman and an African American.

The Republicans were all white men - members of the flat earth society who reject evolution.

Yes, I know. You had Palin. She was picked up by McCain who is now scratching his head, asking himself what was he thinking.

[Jennicut]

1. There are no more Dixiecrats. Shelby switched years ago, the south is all Rethugs.

Duh.

[CTLawGuy]

10. hey, there are two parties in the South!

The Republicans and the Republicans-who-call-themselves-Democrats.

[SIMPLYB1980]

11. Well that's not true at all.

But if it makes you fell better go ahead and insult your southern Democratic allies.

[CTLawGuy]

20. of whom are you speaking?

people in states where liberals number in the low 10's and conservatives in the high 40's?

[boppers]

21. Having lived in the south, myself...

There's a whole lotta racism still going on. They think it's "normal" to have neighborhoods that are predominantly white, or black.

[pampango]

25. Good thing that kind of residential segregation doesn't happen in the North,

MidWest or West. ;)

[boppers]

29. There's that pesky "normal" qualifier I had in there.

If you haven't lived in the south, north, midwest and west, it might be kind of hard to see, but the racism still present in the south is only a few steps away from outright legal segregation.

They still have separate school proms.
They still have separate churches.
They still have "white stores" and "black stores".

Most of the signs have come down, but the behavior is still socially enforced.

[DatManFromNawlins]

30. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight

That's a gigantic fucking brush you're painting an entire region with.

You mean I can't go to New York and find black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods? I can't find black churches and white churches? I can't find stores predominately shopped in by blacks or whites?

Shit, how many white folks attended Obama's church on a regular basis?

Or the West Coast? How many white folks you know running around in the middle of Compton?

You poor, blind little person. Sitting all high and mighty in your ivory tower, stuck in the middle of a fucking intellectual wasteland.

[noamnety]

33. I don't think they're saying that.

I'm in the Detroit area, and you aren't going to get much more segregated than this. Not in the churches, the schools, the neighborhoods, or the stores.

But I think they're saying they've seen the kind that can't even be excused by turning a blind eye and believing it's all due to natural self-segregation because it's SO blatantly and openly enforced by white folks specifically, like having the Jenna tree that only white kids were "allowed" to sit under, or people who would forbid their white kids from going to a prom that black kids are attending.

[boppers]

34. Direct questions have direct answers.

You can go to New York/LA/SFO and find predominantly white and black neighborhoods, but a couple moving in won't find their house burned down. You can go to stores and churches and the eyebrows lifted won't be "you don't belong here", but "cool, more folks".

How many white folks attended Obama's UCC in in Chicago? Do you really want to go there? It was a freaking campaign point.

On the west coast, I spent many months running around in Compton, and by most measures, I'm white. Fun place, lots of poverty though.

Yeah, okay, I'm an "intellectual", which I assume is southern code for "educated", and I don't care for the way the south is still stuck back in the 20th (or 19th) century.

At least I'm not in outright denial of how screwed up it is, and defending it.

[jules1962]

27. Okay . From where do you get your facts.

Speaking for myself and my entire family we are all very liberal Democrats. Guess what? We live in east Tennessee. Shocking! Please do not put down Southerners and stereotype us. We are individuals and most of us can think for ourselves. While I admit that this area is predominantly Repug, please do not alienate the passionate Dems that worked there asses off for President Obama and other leaders. If I recall,North Carolina and Virgina went Dem. Oh hell yea! Bless your heart.

[CTLawGuy]

35. I give you exhibit A

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/19/755161/-I-live-in-Arkansas...-What-should-I-do

I get that there are good democrats everywhere, but there are just not enough in the south to produce liberal democratic politicians.

Instead it produces DINOs like Mary Landrieu who came to my state in '06 to give the CT dem base the finger by stumping for Joe Lieberman's independent general election campaign.

So forgive me for not being a fan of southern "Democrats"

[baldguy]

2. If it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, and smells like a duck - it's probably a duck.

If Michael Steele is comfortable with himself as a black man fronting for what is essentially the political arm of the KKK - more power to him. He's got a stronger stomach, a more flexible conscience and a lower IQ than I do.

[Butch350]

17. Or duck soup.

[uponit7771]

3. I pray that the depth of racism of reThuglicans gets exposed for what it is for everyone to see

[MadMaddie]

4. I think Steele is suffering from Stockhome Syndrome

I think he really believes the Repugs are not racist. He believes he really earned that position....he is a pawn to be discarded.

[Leo The Cleo]

18. He knows they are racist.

He is assured that at least 90 percent of them are racist. However, people in glass houses can't throw stones. Dems need to convert the racists, sexists, ethnicist and all bigots from this party.

[sarah553807]

5. Yeah,this coming from a man who wants to pick up AA..

by wooing them with fried chicken and coleslaw:eyes:

[Zynx]

6. Potato Salad, not coleslaw.

Get the racism right. ;-)

[MadMaddie]

24. I still can't believe he said that....leaves one speechless.

[Sheepshank]

7. I read the idea of this truism here.....just reapplied it in this context.

There is strong evidence to suggest that not every Republican is racist. What Steele has missed is that there is stronger evidence that racists tend to be Republicans.

[Leo The Cleo]

14. . . . and not every democrat isn't racist!

If people are right we have to give it up. Let's face the facts that some democrats are racist and there needs to be some sort of healing of that in our own party. It is fine to bask Steele, but an ad-hominim fallacy is still a fallacy. Let's weed out why he's saying, but not dismiss the truth. There are racist, sexist, homophobic, ethnicist, elitist, intolerant, non-compassionate democrats. And just because racists lean republican, doesn't mean they aren't in our camp.

[Hugabear]

8. Ah, the GOP's "black friend" speaks again

I don't think anybody is fooled by this GOP window dressing.

[grantcart]

9. lol you got me steamed at the title - lol

[Orsino]

12. Enough excuses, Mr. Steele. *Do* something about it, and stop whining. n/t

[Leo The Cleo]

13. Steele is Right!

I know MANY racist democrats. Many union guys, teachers, lawyers and more. Let's not play as if there aren't racist, sexists and other types of bigots in our party. Some of them refuse to vote for blacks. When I moved to Philadelphia, PA in 1999, John Street was running for mayor. I have never seen so many Democrats voting for a republican candidate. Then they called themselves "Democrats for Katz." Katz was the republican in the election. Steele is right. There are democrats who on the basis of race won't vote for a black democrat. There are democrats who don't want blacks in their unions. There are democrats who don't want blacks to live on their blocks. Furthermore, it doesn't just happen in the south.

Now, Steele is a friggin embarrassment, but he's right. Sometimes crappy people can be right.

[question everything]

15. Agree, there are individual racists and bigots everywhere

but not endorsed from the top, the way we've seen on the freeper blog and, in this case, the Young Republican blog.

From the CNN transcript:

a race for the Chairmanship of the Young Republicans that got ugly earlier this month because of these comments posted to the Facebook page of candidate Audra Shay, calling the president a racial slur.

Now, Shay didn't write them, but she did appear to endorse them with a comment saying "You tell them," to the person that had written them. Other young Republicans immediately denounced the language that was used.

Shay came out with a statement saying, that she had been misunderstood. She's also condemned the language and she's accused her opponents of stirring the pot, basically.

Now, this really blew up online in the last couple weeks pushed by further digging and further comments found by the Web site, the Daily Beast. But despite all that, Audra Shay last weekend at the Convention of the Young Republicans was elected to be the new chair of that organization

[Leo The Cleo]

16. We can't afford to "yes, but . . . "

Saying it doesn't come from the top is clearly not good enough. We live in a country that turns a blind eye to a lot. Local politics which is bread and butter have turned a blind eye to many of the things that effect the everyday lives of people. Many of these people are democrats. Now, I'm not a republican apologist, but I know it's not just republicans. I know that on the local level I've had many republicans invite me to their party meetings. This is not to say it speaks of all republican parties, but only since Obama has been elected have I ever been invited to a party meeting for the democrats and I'm no political laggard. The point is that that the bigots are on both sides and that we can't let ourselves off the hook. This is how people become moralists. They say "well, I am a Christian, so those guys are bad, no matter what I do." "I'm a democrat, so those guys a racist and I don't have to check myself." It is unacceptable. We are supposed to be the party of compassion, so we've got be compassionate and check ourselves.

Also, it doesn't matter if it comes from the top. Not all bullies are statesmen. Some bullies are just guys at the job who coerce others. Some bad guys are just guys who teach their kids to hate. We don't have the luxury of just pointing fingers and just pointing to the top or the other side of the aisle. Jimmy Carter just left his Southern Baptist church. I am pretty sure there are some democrats in that fold. Some of them may not agree with Carter. Some of them may not agree with the preacher and still go. That type of mental and emotional state helps to foster racism, sexism and otherwise in their hearts and the hearts of the children they bring.

So, this is not a "yes, but . . ." scenario. We've got to clean our closets. And the last time I checked, much of the racist innuendo during Obama's campaign came from Democrats.

[bettyellen]

23. the people you describe jump ship to support Republicans since they can't find racist xenohobic

candidates and policies supported by Dems- but find them everywhere you lookin the Republican party.. so you're posts are about the exceptions that prove the rule.

[noamnety]

32. Yes, there are racists, sexists and homophobes here

I've seen discussions among democrats that were obviously racist toward blacks, mexicans, indians, you name it. And I saw life long democrats who were afraid of Obama because Reverend Wright said things that offended them about race (things which were true). The recent focus on tensions between the gay community, the black community, and the black gay community makes it clear we still have a long way to go - even among the people who understand oppression best, so we can be sure the ones who experience it least aren't so perfect.

[and-justice-for-all]

19. The majority of their base are in fact racsist sexist assholes...

as far as their party goes, I have yet to see anything that demonstrates that they are not racist sexist assholes.

[hughee99]

22. How far we've come in only 1 year...

Only a year ago, I recall a lot of Clinton supports being called Racists and a lot of Obama supporters being called sexists, all by fellow Democrats. You don't need to go back to the Dixiecrats, just go back and look at DU primary threads from last year.

[TheBigotBasher]

28. They left to join

race hate sites like PUMA PAC (good to know that some silly bigots have given her over $100k that she has not accounted for) and set up front groups like The New Agenda.

The best thing about the Primaries was getting rid of those low lives.

[marimour]

26. There are plenty of racist democrats (just look at DU last year)

And I have personally seen plenty of real life examples among PA Hillary supporters too, one who still has her McCain Palin bumper sticker on her car (and yes she was a Democrat for years).

[Occam Bandage]

31. I think the operative word in that is "was."

She was a Democrat.