Racial Code Words In The GOP Are a Lie

19 Jan, 2012 by Kathleen McKinley

Print this article Font size -16+

I think this is important to address because this is a lie that the Democrats are more than happy to spread. Usually I ignore Sheila Jackson Lee because she sees all things through the lens of race. A sad way to go through life, I think. But here she is on the floor of the house suggesting that Newt Gingrich is using “code” words when calling Pres. Obama “The food stamp President.” She imagines that he was referring to blacks. Never mind that there are more whites are on food stamps. It’s clear that Pres. Obama IS the food stamp President. See chart below.

Ms. Jackson Lee also is insulted by Newt referring to hard work, even if it’s older kids being janitors. I think it’s a bit insulting to blacks for Lee to automatically assume Newt was referring to blacks there. Newt’s own daughter had been a janitor. Isn’t it more plausible that he was referring to that? Of course that is what he was talking about. It’s ironic that Sheila Jackson Lee complains about racial divisiveness, when she is one of the worst offenders in perpetuating the racial divide.

Can we just end this with “code words?” I know many believe it, but it’s a total lie. As a political blogger, I get all the e-mails from campaigns. I get all the e-mails from Tea Party issues. I’ve gone to CPAC for years, I go to conservative conferences, I’m a member of numerous conservative groups. Never, in all these years, have I heard or read ONE thing even implying anything about race. If I had, I can promise you, you would have heard about it right here. Does anyone who reads me imagine I would put up with even IMPLIED prejudice? Of course I wouldn’t. If I had, I would have quit the Republican party. The problems that we in the GOP have with Obama is not, and has never been, about his race. Now, are there people out there that DO judge Obama by his race? Of course! Is there racism regarding Obama? Of course! Racism is alive and well in this country. But to take the reality of a few ignorant people, and try to paint people like Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum with that brush just to perpetuate the false narrative of a racist GOP just to keep black votes. That is morally wrong on every level. The Democrat majority leader Harry Reid said that he was glad candidate Obama was “lightskinned” and “had no negro accent.” Bill Clinton told Ted Kennedy that Obama “would have been bringing us coffee a few years ago.” I find that much more overtly prejudice than anything in these supposedly “code words” people like Ms. Jackson Lee find in the GOP, but you won’t find her complaining about her own leaders. Seriously. Can you even imagine the gasket she would blow if a GOP candidate had used the world “negro?” Who uses that word anymore?? Who thinks like that? But she is silent there.

I was on twitter the other night with a young black woman who was a Democrat. She was asking me why Newt or any GOP candidate would bring up the black community at all? I said because it’s an issue with the breakdown of the black family, incarceration rates, and single mothers. She argued that that is an issue with whites as well and in even greater numbers. I said she was right, but the reason people like Obama, Bill Cosby, and any number of preachers and politicians on both sides bring it up is because it affects the black community in a disproportional way. Blacks only make up 12% of the population, but the ills of society have affected them in a greater percentage than whites. This was the first time ANYONE had ever explained that to her. No wonder she thought any candidates addressing it were being prejudice! I wondered how many others like her don’t understand this?

The ironic thing is that I have for years said that the GOP did not do anything to reach out to the black community. I said they had given up on their votes, and so they didn’t want to waste resources reaching out. There were exceptions like Jack Kemp and George Bush, but to me, they just didn’t care. Now, that high profile candidates finally talk of solutions to the problems of the inner city, they are accused of using “code words.” So, they are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.

I can tell you one thing. I am not giving up. I will continue to preach how important it is for the black community to have a voice in both parties. I will continue to encourage my black brothers and sisters to look intoThe John Langston Forum, Young Minority Conservatives, The BlackSphere, Conservative Black Chick, and Black & Right. African Americans stormed through the door of freedom and opportunity. They became doctors, lawyers, leaders, and CEO’s (not to mention President of the U.S.!) succeeding in an amazing short time since the inequality of the past, but far too many are weighed down by government dependency. Far too many are trapped in poverty, drugs, broken families, and prison. This must change. We cannot continue to let them suffer.

There are so many wonderful black Republicans that the media ignores (or tries to destroy, like Herman Cain) like Allen West, Larry Elders, Tim Scott, Walter Williams, and Thomas Sowell to name a few. These people are greatly admired within the GOP, yet the media never mentions them. The dozens of black speakers at Tea Party events across the country are never mentioned either. This is no accident. It would hurt the false narrative that the Democrats spread about the GOP.

The Democrat party has failed the black community. Anyone who looks around them can see that. Republicans aren’t about handouts, but a hand up. I saw for myself what the great leaders of the civil rights movement sacrificed for a better life for all black Americans, not just a few. I think it’s time they got to it.

I’ll end with a quote from Hannah from Young Minority Conservatives (I’ve gotten to know Hannah at a few conferences, and a more intelligent, classy, and beautiful (inside and out) person you won’t find anywhere).

We are living in a time where the economy and skills are greatly needed. Instead, the liberal, progressive philosophy has perpetuated the racial divide, implying that the color of one’s skin and the culture from which he derives radiates prejudice or signifies inferiority. Therefore, people back off from identifying laziness, discussing work ethic, and rewarding diligence, because they fear offending someone and appearing prejudice.