"We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that’s tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don’t want to study as hard in school? I’ve taught school, and I saw a lot of people of color who didn’t study hard because they said the government would take care of them."
In the clip below Michael Shure of The Young Turks gives his take on Kern's recent comments:
In just the past couple of years, Republicans have made several missteps in regards to race issues. Although some of these stories have been covered here at Diversity Ink, frankly it's been hard to keep up. Whenever Republicans/conservatives cite examples of racism within the Democratic party, they often have to go back in time to prove their case. For example:
- Quotes by Thomas Jefferson (I once asked a conservative blogger to explain the inconsistency of touting the values of Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers while also using a Jefferson quote as proof of racism within the Democratic party. I never got an answer)
- The late Robert Byrd (the Democratic Senator from West Virginia) was a member of the KKK when he was young.
- The fact that it was a Republican president who abolished slavery. Of course, what they fail to acknowledge is that the Republican party of the Lincoln era was considered liberal/progressive as opposed to the Democrats during that period. It wasn't until much later that the two parties switched ideologies.
"I would never say and I have never said, because it's not true that Republicans, all Republicans are racists. That would be silly and wrong. But nowadays, if you are racist, you're probably a Republican."
13 comments:
Melissa (via Facebook) wrote: How can there be so many ignorant people in elected positions? It's embarrassing and sad.
What a sad state of affairs when an elected official spouts garbage like this during modern times.
Teresa (via Facebook) wrote: Sigh. Wow. How on Earth did she get elected????
Bridget (via Facebook) wrote: Hey! Another ignorant Repuklian rant. I think they compare notes with one another and have a checklist of stupid crap they are required to spew to stay a member of their "party".
I think both parties have been guilty of this. Just one of many reasons I reject both parties. LBJ for example was a well known racist and many of his social policies were geared toward weakening the black family. On the other the Republicans have their share of racists. I don't buy the simplistic argument that one party is good and one is bad.
I wish we would abolish political parties and choose candidates based on who they are and their view on the issues. Instead we choose based on the letter next to the name.
The result is a hand full of special interests have been able to control which candidates we get to choose from, and each year both side grow more corrupt.
"Rep. Sally Kern (a Republican member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives) said the following."
Whenever I read a sentence like that, I'm prepared to see the very worse. And I'm never wrong.
Oklahoma has problems with bigotry, and Sally Kern is just one small-minded part of it.
"While Kern has long history of taking outlandish positions — from saying homosexuality is more dangerous than terrorism to introducing legislation to force teachers to question evolution — her bigoted comments reflect a disturbing trend among even mainstream conservatives to blame valuable social safety net programs for creating a culture of dependency or even “slavery.”
SOURCE
Dan: Agreed. Not only in modern times, but on TV for all the world to see.
Trestin: Although there is no doubt that both parties don't have clean hands when it comes to race, you did exactly what I said Republicans/conservatives often do when you used LBJ as an example of racism within the Democratic party. Whether or not LBJ's policies weakened the black family is debatable. There are some who feel that way about Ronald Reagan's policies as POTUS.
Also, I'm aware of a racist quote regarding blacks voting Democrat that's been attributed to LBJ. Although it's appeared in at least two books, there is some question as to whether he actually said it. I'm not saying he didn't, but the quote's validity is questionable.
If he did say it, there's obviously no excuse for it. However, we are talking about something that happened nearly 50 years ago. The comments by Sally Kern occurred in 2011! Sadly, she isn't the only Republican within the past few years to make bigoted comments. If you doubt me, I'll be happy to lay it out for you. As you said, neither party is good or evil. However, if there are racists presently within the Democratic party, they do a much better job of concealing their bigotry than do Republicans.
CC: I was thinking the same thing as you because I have never heard anyone say the government is going to take care of them.
Shaw: Although the tendency of Republicans/conservatives to equate social safety net programs with slavery is a tired talking point, it doesn't stop them from hauling it out over and over. The fact that Rep. Kern said what she did in public shows me that she is comfortable in her bigotry.
Just a short comment that would explain a piece of this. My bosses wife is a teacher in a lower class black neighborhood. She teaches the early grades.
She says those kids show up and don't have the slightest clue about ABC's, 123's or anything else.
Parents have to contribute.
Because of 'no child left behind', she and all other teachers are mandated to teach to the poorest performing students which bores the stuffing out of anyone there who has something on the ball. Totally counter-productive.
Lastly, I think federal involvement in education has been destroying the process. This is a local item to be worked, not federal. Federal agencies are dysfunctional at best.
PS, heard that 47 % ! of the Detroit (guess that's Detroit Metro) population are Illiterate.
I graduated in 1970 in a small burg in Pennsylvania. No One was illiterate when they moved on from even 5th grade.
Kid: Thanks for sharing the story of your boss's wife and her teaching career. However, that doesn't excuse Rep. Kern trying to say the high black prison rate is due to black students not trying hard enough.
Josh: I didn't say people have to dig back in the past to bring up examples of Democrats being “racist.” What I said is "they often have to go back in time to prove their case". There is a subtle difference. To make myself clearer, what I should have said is they often choose to go back in time to prove their case. I've seen it here (including this very thread) and on conservative blogs.
You didn't choose that route, so hats off to you. The point you raised about the OH police dept. is a good one. I think lowering the standards for test scores because too many minorities (not just blacks, but Hispanics also) were not passing is the wrong way to go.
Bill Maher isn't saying a racist= a white right-winger. I think the quote of his I included bears that out. As for the exchange between Bill and Amy Holmes, she actually agreed with him in regards to Mormonism and its history of racism.
In case it wasn't already clear, the Democratic Party doesn't have clean hands when it come to race. It just seems there are Republicans today who are quite comfortable making racially insensitive statements. It's almost as if they wear it as a badge of honor.
Malcolm, Nope, just a piece of the puzzle, and certainly doesn't excuse sally kern's comments.
People should talk about solutions.
Holmes agreeing with Maher--not sure she did, but I won't argue it--wasn't the point I was making.
A person assuming that all black people not only do think alike but should think alike - that's a bit rough. And the way his audience agreed with him is really off-putting.
(And I won't even get started on Maher's religious outlook. It's well documented. He gets away where others are called bigots and racists.)
I understand that a lot of folks on or nearer the "left" do not consider that to be racist. And I respect that. But a lot of folks like me view the PC culture as assuming minorities are simply too inept to think for or do anything for themselves.
Kid: Agreed.
Josh: Although you weren't arguing the point about Holmes agreeing with Maher, I still want to make it clear I found this info on the legendary Newsbusters.org site.
As for your parenthetical comment about Bill Maher, it could be that he is the left's much smarter version of Rush Limbaugh. Not because they have the same religious outlook, but because they get a pass by some on "their side" no matter what they do.
I hope you aren't implying that only the left is guilty of wanting/expecting black people to think monolithically. I have seen conservatives (here and throughout the blogosphere) who would love for black liberals to change their way of thinking.
If you think it's the same, then you think it's the same. Ah salute.
But it seems to me that wanting someone to "come over" to a way of thinking, so to speak, is a bit different than wanting someone not to think at all.
Josh: Although you may not agree, there are liberals who are capable of independent thinking. Now if you are suggesting that some people on the right don't toe the GOP line in their thinking, I find that laughable. In addition to the lack of independent thinking by some regressives/Republicans in the blogosphere, it happens with public figures too. We just witnessed a great example of it when Newt Gingrich suffered a backlash after he commented on the Paul Ryan budget plan during his recent appearance on "Meet the Press". Newt chose to think outside the GOP mindset and the fallout was quick and severe. He wound up having to back pedal and flat out lie in an effort to save what's left of his 2012 presidential run.
To put it simply, the inability to think for one's self isn't exclusive to one political viewpoint.
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