# "Race" and the Republicans. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 9, 2012, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-and-the-republicans/634183 "2012-09-09T11:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-and-the-republicans/634183/1 "2012-09-09T11:51:39Z")
Continuing the hijack from the [DNC 2012](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=664407) thread. [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15469365&postcount=403)’s adaher’s contention: > [@adaher](#): > > They’ve always been the party of small government and color blind policies. (referring to the Republican party). I think this quote from Lee Atwater is sufficient to disprove that particular claim. > [@Lee Atwater](#): > > You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff. You’re getting so abstract now [that] you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger. From the wiki article on the [Southern Strategy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy). > [@jayjay](#): > > There were racist, conservative Democrats and very liberal Republicans. There were also racist fiscally liberal Democrats like [Theodore Bilbo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Bilbo). ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-and-the-republicans/634183/2 "2012-09-10T18:44:44Z")
I don’t think the latent role of race in Republican politics is best demostrated in the base’s rationale for the financial crisis of 2008. Most folks on the left think “everyone agrees” Wall Street greed and the systematic gutting of financial regulation were key factors in causing the recession. But there is a different interpretation prevailing among the Tea Party crowd; they believe irresponsible borowers–empowered via the Community Reinvestment Act and “government” companies like Fannie Mae–created a housing bubble that inevitably burst and then demanded relief (thanks ACORN for the political power!) in the form of government handouts. Whatever blame they lay at the feet of the big banks or Bush II, it is because they did nothing to stop it–and in some cases cooperated. The [rant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santelli#Criticism_of_government_Homeowners_Affordability_and_Stability_Plan) that CNBC editor Rick Santelli delivered in February 2009 sums up their position almost perfectly. In that climate, it’s easy to paint the “irresponsible borrowers” as the you-know-whos taking our hard-earned tax money. And for this narrative to work, Obama has to be the physical incarnation of that crowd–how else could we continue to have an economic slump unless Obama were supporting the moochers? That’s why, for example, the GOP goes on and on about Obama “gutting welfare reform”, long after the mainstream press proves the claim false. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-and-the-republicans/634183/3 "2012-09-10T19:10:56Z")
> [@CJJ](#): > > I **don’t** think the latent role of race in Republican politics is best demostrated in the base’s rationale for the financial crisis of 2008. > > Most folks on the left think “everyone agrees” Wall Street greed and the systematic gutting of financial regulation were key factors in causing the recession. But there is a different interpretation prevailing among the Tea Party crowd; they believe irresponsible borowers–empowered via the Community Reinvestment Act and “government” companies like Fannie Mae–created a housing bubble that inevitably burst and then demanded relief (thanks ACORN for the political power!) in the form of government handouts. Whatever blame they lay at the feet of the big banks or Bush II, it is because they did nothing to stop it–and in some cases cooperated. The [rant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santelli#Criticism_of_government_Homeowners_Affordability_and_Stability_Plan) that CNBC editor Rick Santelli delivered in February 2009 sums up their position almost perfectly. > > In that climate, it’s easy to paint the “irresponsible borrowers” as the you-know-whos taking our hard-earned tax money. And for this narrative to work, Obama has to be the physical incarnation of that crowd–how else could we continue to have an economic slump unless Obama were supporting the moochers? That’s why, for example, the GOP goes on and on about Obama “gutting welfare reform”, long after the mainstream press proves the claim false. So, by “don’t” you mean “do”? ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-and-the-republicans/634183/4 "2012-09-10T19:24:34Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So, by “don’t” you mean “do”? Oops…that’s what I get for last-minute editing. Change the opening sentence to “I think the continuing, latent role of race in Republican politics is best demostrated in the base’s rationale for the financial crisis of 2008.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-and-the-republicans/634183/5 "2012-09-10T21:07:58Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > There were also racist fiscally liberal Democrats like [Theodore Bilbo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Bilbo). Yes, that Bilbo . . . He was always going on and on about the Biggers . . . ---
**Author:** ![Rampant\_Coypu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/439d5e/32.png) [@Rampant\_Coypu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rampant_Coypu)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-and-the-republicans/634183/6 "2012-09-12T05:49:18Z")
I think this pretty much sums up all the Republicans have got this year: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZUdQ3GidOTQ/hqdefault.jpg "New Sheriff - Blazing Saddles") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUdQ3GidOTQ) Sheriff’s a CLANG