On Wednesday, Sen Rockefeller held a hearing of the Senate Commerce committee and some sparks flew. Rockefeller made this statement in a hearing about the ACA:
“It’s very important to take a long view at what’s going on here. And I’ll be able to dig up some emails that make part of the Affordable Care Act that doesn’t look good, especially from people who have made up their mind that they don’t want it to work. Because they don’t like the president, maybe he’s of the wrong color. Something of that sort,” Rockefeller said. “I’ve seen a lot of that and I know a lot of that to be true. It’s not something you’re meant to talk about in public, but it’s something I’m talking about in public because that is very true.”
That set Sen. Ron Johnson off.
“I didn’t object to this because of the race of the president. I objected to this because it is an assault on our freedom. And Mr. Chairman, I have to admit, I have a great deal of respect for you, but I’m the only one in the room, and I found it very offensive that you would basically imply that I’m a racist because I oppose this health care law. That is outrageous.”
Did you catch that? Rockefeller said some people oppose the ACA because of racism and Johnson twisted his words to say that Rockefeller called him a racist. This is the reverse race card played by Republicans on a regular basis. They make the false claim that liberals call all opposition to Obama racist, so therefore, no opposition to Obama can ever be racist. The GOP even went so far as to say racism has ended. It’s a weak attempt to keep liberals from pointing out that racism is alive and well in our country.
Just recently, numerous stories have appeared that only serve to reinforce that point. We have Cliven Bundy saying, “I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro.” Republicans will say he is just a singular nutcase, even though they were full-throated in support of him until he opened his mouth, but he isn’t a lone wolf and racism is alive and well in the Republican Party. A New Hampshire police commissioner unapologetically called Obama a n****r. A county Republican Committee in Illinois sent out a newsletter calling Obama a zebra; half black, half white, and all ass. A Republican Party official in California sent out a picture of Obama’s face pasted on a chimpanzee’s body. A Republican Precinct Chairman in North Carolina opened up about the real reason for passing photo ID voting laws when he said, “If it hurts a bunch of lazy blacks that want the government to give them everything, so be it.”
It’s not just about Obama, though. Racism is still prevalent throughout the country and it is not restricted to the South, as demonstrated by Robert Keller in Utah.
“What Keller wrote down, in a letter to the family last December, was a direct threat. His hate-filled letter – which concluded with “Get this n****r out!” – explicitly warned the parents that he would kill either the boy or the parents if they did not remove him from the neighborhood.
By Keller’s own description the letter read, “If it was my daughter – I think I wrote that I’d slice his throat or something like that.”
Keller told KUTV that he was inspired to write the letter out of fear that the boy might try to date white girls. “I just said, ‘What’s gonna happen later on down the road, when this black kid starts chasing these girls? Which I’ve seen,” he said. “That’s what set me off. I saw him walking down the street with a white gal.”
When Republicans try to shield themselves and their constituents from any accusations of racism, liberals need to forcefully push back. Stating the obvious fact that some opposition to Obama is based on racism is not the same as saying ALL opposition is based on racism. We can’t let the Republicans get a free pass to say anything they want by denying racism exists.
Marner
mitchethekid
Left is Right 