texas congressman ron paul has been a major contender in the race for the republican party presidential nomination. thought of as the godfather of the tea party movement, it’s no surprise that he has the most conservative record of any us congressman. with tea party ties, it’s also no surprise that he’s been tied to racist and homophobic remarks.
both the new york times and atlantic report his publication, the ron paul political report, was filled to the brim with disgusting rhetoric about non-dominant groups. i’m shaking my head as i write this nonsense:
Given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.
Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions.
Order was only restored in L.A. [after the Rodney King riots] when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.
(emphasis added)
admittedly, the line about welfare checks literally made me LOL. that type of overt racism is best left to parodies on 30 rock and saturday night live, not real-life politics in post-racial america.
ever the flip-flopping politician, paul is now attempting to distance himself from the same remarks he defended during his 1996 campaign for congress. his camp now claims he had no control over the newsletters’ contents. really? i say fire everybody–his team could have come up with a better strategy then straight-faced denial.
there are few things i hate more than a whishy-washy racist. if you’re racist, then be racist. join the kkk if you want. just don’t back peddle when called out on your bigoted worldview. it’s cowardly and sidelines solution-oriented conversations about race and racism.
