# The GOP and Race **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 29, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522 "2013-08-29T19:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/41 "2013-08-30T16:16:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not much to work with? How is 47 senators, 242 representatives, and 30 governors “not much to work with”? > [@Marley23](#): > > Which of them has anything particularly relevant to say on this occasion? I was genuinely surprised they invited McCain. He’s probably the last person in Congress who opposed the law (although he eventually changed his mind). I don’t think I made my point clearly here. **septimus** noted that the Republicans proposed a black former Congressman and a black state legislator. They have most of the House and almost half the Senate and 30 governors, but which of those are they going to propose for the anniversary of the March on Washington? The ones passing voter ID laws that everybody knows will disproportionately affect black people? The ones trying to cut early voting hours? The ones who think civil rights legislation is overrated? The list goes on… ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/42 "2013-08-30T17:02:00Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t think I made my point clearly here. **septimus** noted that the Republicans proposed a black former Congressman and a black state legislator. They have most of the House and almost half the Senate and 30 governors, but which of those are they going to propose for the anniversary of the March on Washington? The ones passing voter ID laws that everybody knows will disproportionately affect black people? The ones trying to cut early voting hours? The ones who think civil rights legislation is overrated? The list goes on… That’s all the more reason to go! Since “everyone knows” how racist the Republican party and their policies are, this was their opportunity to show that no, Republicans differ on how best to help the Black community, but we all have the same goal. I mean, it’s obvious bullshit, but that’s their schtick. But by refusing (or just not bothering) to attend, it gives strong evidence that Republicans just don’t care about black people. And that’s an impression they really shouldn’t be shoring up right now. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/43 "2013-08-30T17:27:21Z")
They simply had no reason to show up. [It’s all about the past.](http://thehill.com/homenews/news/318869-conservative-blacks-irritated-with-liberal-flavor-of-march-anniversary#ixzz2dBnU0mVR) > [@](#): > > “I think Martin Luther King’s dream has been fulfilled,” said Ron Christie, a Republican strategist who served as special assistant to President George W. Bush. “All men and women in this country are now treated equally. Legal discrimination has been outlawed.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/44 "2013-08-30T18:26:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Marley23** : > > Which of them has anything particularly relevant to say on this occasion? What did Clinton or Carter have particularly relevant to say? Nothing anyone ever says at these things is particularly relevant; you just get on stage, say a few words about how great a man King was, how he’d doubtless be overjoyed at how far we’ve come, that the task isn’t yet over and that we still need to work tirelessly to achieve his dream, and that you’re just the one to do it without stating any specifics about how. It’s an easy speech, low-hanging fruit for some applause and political capital. Or if you can’t even get your scriptwriters to do that much, you at least show up, clap at the other speakers, and shake hands with the people around you. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/45 "2013-08-30T18:29:19Z")
I heard clips of the speeches on the radio and seen some of it on TV and I was kinda surprised that none of the GOP former presidents showed up. I thought to myself, “boy, even if it was for medical reasons, it would look really bad for no Republican president to at least make an appearance. They probably have Senators and Congressmen up there though”. Imagine my surprise when I saw this topic. Wow, what a boneheaded move. Hell, at least get up in front of some camera and say “Even if I couldn’t make it to DC today, this day is an important anniversary, blah blah blah.” An outsider could be forgiven to infer that the GOP is actively trying to discourage black people from voting for them ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/46 "2013-08-30T18:51:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What did Clinton or Carter have particularly relevant to say? I’m not trying to get too meta here. I’m saying that, yes, there are a bunch of Republican elected officials, but how many of them could take the podium at this event and speak with any kind of credibility? They should have wanted to tell that audience that they share their values and goals and celebrate the achievements of the original march, but how many of them could really do that? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/47 "2013-08-30T21:12:59Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m not trying to get too meta here. I’m saying that, yes, there are a bunch of Republican elected officials, but how many of them could take the podium at this event and speak with any kind of credibility? They should have wanted to tell that audience that they share their values and goals and celebrate the achievements of the original march, but how many of them could really do that? I think it would have been easy for some of them to come up on stage, lie through their teeth like Romney at the first debate, get some pity applause, and run out of there. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/48 "2013-08-30T22:12:34Z")
This was one of the dumbest political miscalculations in modern US politics. Seriously, the GOP deserves any and all bad PR and other negativity that arises out of their less-than-inconspicuous absence here. Fucking idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Conservian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@Conservian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Conservian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/49 "2013-08-31T01:25:46Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I would bet anything that someone somewhere in their leadership has stated that it is a strategic position that they are not even going to try with African Americans. They accept that the Democratic Party “owns” that market. So, they don’t feel there is any value in investing time and effort in even showing up. > > What they don’t seem to realize is that there is value in at least not appearing racist. “…not appearing racist.” If that isn’t the kind of mindset poverty pimps and race-baiters love to seize upon, I don’t know what is. Over the past couple of decades, Republicans became more concerned about being ‘liked’ than standing strong for what’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/50 "2013-08-31T01:36:02Z")
> [@Conservian](#): > > “…not appearing racist.” > If that isn’t the kind of mindset poverty pimps and race-baiters love to seize upon, I don’t know what is. Over the past couple of decades, Republicans became more concerned about being ‘liked’ than standing strong for what’s right. Lets see…: August 2013 join date? Yes. Incredibly false and misleading partisan statement? Yes. Username that flaunts ideology? Yes. :rolleyes: Welcome! Enjoy your presumably brief time here on the SDMB, **Conservian**! ---
**Author:** ![Conservian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@Conservian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Conservian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/51 "2013-08-31T01:43:07Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Incompetency can be blamed at first; but IMHO, how they are dealing with that snafu fits the now usual Republican maneuver of shooting themselves in the foot. When a ‘party’ becomes afraid to boldly stand on and for those principles that rightly established them as a major political force, they are destined to realize their own worst fears. The GOP shoots themselves in the foot constantly because their ‘aim’ is not true. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/52 "2013-08-31T01:58:25Z")
> [@Conservian](#): > > When a ‘party’ becomes afraid to boldly stand on and for those principles that rightly established them as a major political force, they are destined to realize their own worst fears. > The GOP shoots themselves in the foot constantly because their ‘aim’ is not true. So you’re saying that the problems the GOP has right now are directly related to not being conservative enough? ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/53 "2013-08-31T01:59:05Z")
> [@Conservian](#): > > “…not appearing racist.” > If that isn’t the kind of mindset poverty pimps and race-baiters love to seize upon, I don’t know what is. Over the past couple of decades, Republicans became more concerned about being ‘liked’ than standing strong for what’s right. Standing against racism _ **IS** _ “standing strong for what’s right.” Unfortunately, standing up for what’s right hasn’t been a concern for Republican party leaders since Reagan. > [@Conservian](#): > > When a ‘party’ becomes afraid to boldly stand on and for those principles that rightly established them as a major political force, they are destined to realize their own worst fears. Since the racist ‘Southern Strategy’ is what made the Republican party a major political force in the modern era, I can’t see how this is anything _but_ standing for their principles. > [@](#): > > The GOP shoots themselves in the foot constantly because their ‘aim’ is not true. The GOP shoots themselves in the foot constantly because they cater to the most ignorant and reactionary minority in their base, and refuse to accept that the party of angry racist grandpas isn’t going to continue to win elections for long. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/54 "2013-08-31T02:33:01Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s all they had to work with. The only black Republican in Congress is Sen. Tim Scott, and he declined to attend. He says now that if the organizers had re-invited him and offered him a chance to speak, he would have gone. (Fun fact: Scott did serve a term in the House, but he was appointed to the Senate. He also refused to join the Congressional Black Caucus.) There are no black governors from either party. So if Scott couldn’t make it, they didn’t have much to work with. I know you’ve clarified, but I think that on the one hand, you’re kind of right–the GOP thought that a couple of black people is all they have to work with–and on the other hand, their thought process is profoundly racist. The Democratic establishment didn’t look around for only black people to send, they sent people whose views support racial equality. The Republican party didn’t look around for people whose views support racial equality, they looked around for people with dark skin, as if black people were doing no more than demanding to see a black Republican so they could believe it could be done, as though black people were voting based on skin color and not on reasoned political interests. > [@Chicagojeff](#): > > leave Ron christie on his own… looking like the lawn jockey he’s treated like… Dude, fuck that racist garbage. Drive me insane when a person on my side of a debate thinks it’s okay in any sense to call a black person a “lawn jockey.” That’s disgusting, and you should be ashamed. (You SHOULDN’T try to weasel out by claiming that’s how he’s being treated: you should be ashamed.) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/55 "2013-08-31T02:46:31Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Fuck Bill O’Reilly. > > But, can I just say (and this is hard!) I really respect how George W. responded? I don’t have any love for the guy, but his excuse seemed valid (heart surgery) and the letter he sent was really nice. I somewhat expect Dubya would have been happy to attend. He seems pretty serious about the not-being-racist. And he’s not running for anything. Not that I’d have been surprised if he had been able to attend and didn’t for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/56 "2013-08-31T02:58:17Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Of course they are. [They’ve spent decades](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy) catering to and recruiting racists; it may have _started_ mostly as cynical maneuvering for votes, but by now the racists largely are the party. The Republican Party is the White Racist party. > > On the whole, they don’t. They are “backwards bigots”, their base is dominated by bigots. They certainly don’t want to look un-bigoted, they’d alienate their base. Yeah, even during W’s term as Prez, he and Karl Rove were trying to just pass a guest worker visa, and the GOP commentariat were trying to come up with some reason that just couldn’t happen, and the Congressional GOP were all, hell no! This is the constituency they chose, the specially gerrymandered supporters that will actually vote for them, and they feel they have to play to the racists, or they are such themselves. I tended to agree with W and Rove on that, but the party as a whole said no. Part of it, I suppose, is “majority of the majority” politics. The caucus they have to play to for their careers is racist or cowed by racists, so even the GOP pols that aren’t have to go along with it, until they get to be President and have no further steps up the pyramid? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/57 "2013-08-31T03:30:51Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Right- by giving up on attracting black voters, they’re also giving up on attracting white voters who don’t feel comfortable in a nigh-whites-only club. And that’s a growing segment, I think (anecdotally). There’s a lot of truth to that, but it’s also true that you can achieve a diverse party without winning a lot of black voters. Thus the GOP’s desire to win more Hispanics and Asians and Jews, groups which are actually gettable. If you end up with a Democratic Party where only blacks give it majority support, no matter how dominant that support is, it makes the Democrats the less diverse party. Also, regardless of how comfortable white voters feel about an all-white party, if the Democrats continue to ignore the interests of the white working class it won’t matter much. Although that could be a problem that doesn’t last past Obama’s Presidency. Clinton is very popular with working class whites. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/58 "2013-08-31T03:32:41Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > There’s a lot of truth to that, but it’s also true that you can achieve a diverse party without winning a lot of black voters. Thus the GOP’s desire to win more Hispanics and Asians and Jews, groups which are actually gettable. A significant part of the GOP seems to be actively sabotaging attempts to get more Hispanic support. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/59 "2013-08-31T03:35:02Z")
I think it’s more the case that they believe it’s the wrong way to get that support. Income is a better predictor of voting behavior than race, African-Americans excepted. Importing lots of poor unskilled workers is very bad for Republican hopes. Importing lots of professionals, on the other hand, regardless of race, is good for Republicans. Which is why almost all Republicans support easier entry for people with marketable skills. Hispanics vote Democrat mainly because they are more likely to be poor. If you slow down the immigration pipeline and let the assimilation process work better, you’ll get a more and more conservative voting bloc over time. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522/60 "2013-08-31T03:53:48Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > There’s a lot of truth to that, but it’s also true that you can achieve a diverse party without winning a lot of black voters. Thus the GOP’s desire to win more Hispanics and Asians and Jews, groups which are actually gettable. I think you’re overestimating the appeal a “we’re racist but only selectively racist” policy will have to other minority groups. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gop-and-race/667522.md?page=4)