Harry Reid's racism gets a pass
Comfortable with the Double Standard
Harry Reid said this about Trent Lott when Lott was forced to resign over what some called racist remarks; “He had no alternative. If you tell ethnic jokes in the backroom, it’s that much easier to say ethnic things publicly. I’ve always practiced how I play.” Well, we now know that was a lie, don’t we? What did Senator Lott say that was so horrendously racist? Lott, R-Mississippi, made his comment on Capitol Hill during the 100th birthday celebration for Senator Strom Thurmond, who was retiring after serving almost 48 years in the Senate. You should be able to find archival footage of the comment as it was broadcast live on C-SPAN.
“I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years, either.”
That is racist? Only if you belong to a party that has invested whole heartedly into a reactionary knee-jerk liberal agenda. Lott’s comment could only be considered racist if you used an extreme narrow world view on Thurmond’s background.
Thurmond ran as the presidential nominee of the breakaway Dixiecrat Party in the 1948 presidential race against Democrat Harry Truman and Republican Thomas Dewey. He carried Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and his home state of South Carolina, of which he was governor at the time.
During the campaign, he said, “All the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, our schools, our churches.” The Dixicrat party ran under a platform that declared in part, “We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race.”
But that was in 1948. Change had occurred and Strom Thurmond’s career had also moved with the times. Lott could have been referencing any number of arenas in talking about America’s longest serving Senator…but the liberals picked the one that suited their own agenda.
Considering Harry Reid, let’s look at his words. He said, Obama was well suited to a presidential run because he is a “light-skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” If John Ensign had said this certain pigment-rich groups would still be marching in the streets calling for Ensign’s lynching. That isn’t happening. The same people who would now be apoplectic if anyone one the other side of the aisle had uttered exactly the same phrase as Reid are bending over backwards to find a way to excuse Reid’s words.
On NBC’s “Today” show Monday, Matt Lauer asked PBS’ Gwen Ifill this question: “Isn’t Harry Reid implying that a dark-skinned African American who speaks in a way that some would consider more stereotypical would not be electable?” Ifill, who is black, agreed that was indeed the case and then went on in an attempt to portray the racist Reid as a fine man who understands the intricacies of today’s political world. Imagine if Sarah Palin had said what Reid did. And the pass isn’t just extended to Harry Reid:
Joe Biden said this during the 2008 campaign, regarding then candidate Barack Obama, “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Did he mean that all other African-Americans were not articulate, bright, clean or nice-looking? Not even Al Sharpton mentioned this one.
The black activists and their brethren in the liberal media seem to be quite content with the double standard. They will continue to drive home the message that whosoever conservative is unfit for office because of what ever they said long after anyone will have remembered the statement because in reality it meant nothing at all, and in most cases it was a misinterpretation on their part. What is sad is that most American voters accept the lies, hook, line, sinker and reel. Imagine if the voters actually researched the backgrounds of these issues. I’m sure that if they did the liberals would consider it a violation of some group’s rights.
I am about to make a statement that the liberal media will consider to be extremely racist. Here it is: No race, gender, family background, age, economic status or sexual identity grants any group or individual any right, status, opportunity, or benefit above anyone else. In my world you advance or regress upon your own merit. What you are has no bearing. Rather, it is who you are that counts.
You should elect people who share that belief and dump those who don’t.
| | Bob Beers
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Bob L. Beers was a member of the Nevada Assembly representing District 21 in Clark County, Nevada. Prior to his election in 2006, he was an author involved in graphic arts and illustration.
Originally from Eureka, California, Beers attended Arcata High School and Humboldt State College. He currently resides in Henderson, Nevada with his wife and son.
Bob can be reached at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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