The GOP’s Racial Politics

The GOP's Racial Politics
Jan 27, 2012 | By ThinkProgress War Room

Our guest author is former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA), president of
Center for American Progress Action Fund.

From the subtle to the sickening, this Republican primary season has
seen a normalizing of racist and racially-coded language. It was not
so long ago that the chairman of the Republican National Committee
apologized for his party's history of "trying to benefit politically
from racial polarization," and told the NAACP, "I am here today as the
Republican Chairman to tell you we were wrong." Such leadership cannot
be found now.

Newt Gingrich may be the new master of race politics with his efforts
to label Barack Obama the "food-stamp president" and his generous
offer to lecture African-Americans at the NAACP on why they should
demand paychecks instead of food stamps. We know that Mr. Gingrich's
claims of being a "historian" for Freddie and Fannie are a strain, but
would it be that hard for him to check the history of NAACP's
leadership on developing and demanding groundbreaking job creation
policies? (Or to note that more food stamp recipients are white than
any other race or ethnicity?) But why would a historian let facts get
in the way of historical racial prejudice?

ThinkProgress' Jeff Spross has compiled a recent history of the GOP's
dehumanizing and divisive language that threatens to plague the
primary process for weeks to come. Watch it:

http://thinkprogress.org/author/tpwarroom/

--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
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