For once I agree with Michael Steele. If a Republican had said the same thing I would have referred to him as a racist until the day he died, and then forever after (see Strom Thurmond). I'm pretty surprised that (so far) Reid's getting a pass for this from all the important players.
I should emphasize though, we should never be surprised when racist comments slip out among powerful elected officials of either party. Yeah, the Democrats should be better on this, and to a certain degree, they run into this problem less often than than Republicans do. But don't forget how apparently common this sort of attitude is even among significant Democrats. Remember Joe Biden's "slip"?:
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
Of course, Biden went on to be Obama's running mate and our eventual VP.
If the President can hear someone talk like that, and then make the guy his VP, how often has he heard similar comments in his life? It makes me sick to my stomach to think of how the President of the United States has heard so much of this garbage in his life that he's just numb to it. He just ignores it, when he probably wants to push them right off of Air Force One...or, at least give them a strong rebuke.
Point is, it should be considered unacceptable. Reid should pull his foot all the way out of his mouth and then step down as the Majority Leader.
About Me
- Daniel
- Riverside, California
- I spend about 1/3 of my time (for only ten months a year) teaching 4th and 5th graders at a public school in Southern California. The rest of the time (which seems like a lot more than I thought, when I really look at it), I divide between things like reading, playing the guitar, walking my dog, watching sports, and occasionally things like camping and taking trips. I do most of these things in the company of my wife, who is just..well..amazing.
1 comment:
I am with you, Daniel. Harry Reid should never have made any comment like that, though it had a context. What it sounds like to me is that he is reinforcing stereotypes that have contributed to discrimination for centuries and it is appalling that such talk should come from one of Washington's top political leaders. Does the republican party have a leg to stand on in criticizing these comments? Their systemic discrimination-- standing against any and all efforts by President Obama to bring improvement and change to our country-- have reflected a deep-seated racism that permeates too large a percentage of their party.
The fight is not over-- those of us who believe in racial and cultural equality and unity must unite! DB
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