# What is the Republican Party actively doing to discourage racism in their party? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 3, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285 "2012-08-03T12:57:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/1 "2012-08-03T12:57:45Z")
In what way is the Republican Party letting it be known that racists are not welcome there? How are they actively making racists uncomfortable? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/2 "2012-08-03T13:11:56Z")
Well, they tend to mention Abe Lincoln a lot. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/3 "2012-08-03T13:41:42Z")
Encouraging use of the “some of my best friends are. . .” meme. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/4 "2012-08-03T13:54:41Z")
What is the Democratic Party actively doing to discourage internal racism? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/5 "2012-08-03T14:04:08Z")
Can we skip the snark for the first few posts, please? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/6 "2012-08-03T14:05:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What is the Democratic Party actively doing to discourage internal racism? I would also appreciate not having to deal with this autoresponse hijack, too. If you _sincerely_ want that question answered however, why don’t you start your own thread? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/7 "2012-08-03T14:08:03Z")
I don’t think they’re making an effort to discourage racism. The unfortunate truth is there are a lot of people with varying degrees of racism in the US. These people have to vote for somebody, and Republicans aren’t about to throw these potential votes away. So from Nixon’s Southern Strategy to the Tea Party astroturf movement of today, racists have been a key component of what success Republicans have enjoyed in the past half century. Do you have to be a racist to be Republican? No. Do you have to be a Republican to be a racist? It’s getting to be that way. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/8 "2012-08-03T14:09:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > What is the Democratic Party actively doing to discourage internal racism? Pursuing an agenda that is not attractive to racists. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/9 "2012-08-03T14:10:02Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I would also appreciate not having to deal with this autoresponse hijack, too. If you _sincerely_ want that question answered however, why don’t you start your own thread? It’s not a hijack. The question posed in your OP assumes that the Republican Party _should_ be doing something to discourage racism. If other parties aren’t, why should the Republicans? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/10 "2012-08-03T14:13:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s not a hijack. The question posed in your OP assumes that the Republican Party _should_ be doing something to discourage racism. If other parties aren’t, why should the Republicans? It’s a fucking hijack in my opinion, as are most “What about _them_, over _there_!” responses to specific questions. If you don’t feel that there is any need to discourage racism in the Republican Party, just have the guts to come out and say so. This particular thread is about the practices of a particular political party. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/11 "2012-08-03T14:15:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s not a hijack. The question posed in your OP assumes that the Republican Party _should_ be doing something to discourage racism. If other parties aren’t, why should the Republicans? Exactly. It isn’t the Republicans fault that the world they envision just also happens to be appealing to racists. It’s not like the entire party owes its present success to any sort of effort to appeal to racists or anything. There’s been no regionally oriented strategy carried out using racial issues as wedges in order to prevent people from thinking about their own economic interests. Why, that would take the work of a cunning ratfucker. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/12 "2012-08-03T14:15:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Can we skip the snark for the first few posts, please? Apologies. I read the OP as ironic/sarcastic/anythingbutserious. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/13 "2012-08-03T14:17:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Apologies. I read the OP as ironic/sarcastic/anythingbutserious. The OP(both original poster and original post) is totally serious, and preemptive offensive and defensive snark just isn’t appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/14 "2012-08-03T14:17:50Z")
Tetchy today, are we? I imagine you’re familiar enough with my posting history to guess whether I think there are lots of racist Republicans. That’s beside the point. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/15 "2012-08-03T14:21:30Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Tetchy today, are we? I imagine you’re familiar enough with my posting history to guess whether I think there are lots of racist Republicans. That’s beside the point. I don’t follow, and I don’t care about your posting history, and I never said that there were “lots of racist Republicans”. Less reading into the question and more just reading the question might be helpful in your case. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/16 "2012-08-03T14:26:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The OP(both original poster and original post) is totally serious, and preemptive offensive and defensive snark just isn’t appreciated. Again, apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/17 "2012-08-03T14:29:51Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Again, apologies. Accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/18 "2012-08-03T14:30:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t follow, and I don’t care about your posting history, and I never said that there were “lots of racist Republicans”. > Less reading into the question and more just reading the question might be helpful in your case. Oh, fine. The Republican Party generally [denounces](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/republicans-denounce-racist-an.html) and [distances itself](http://www.chattanoogan.com/2004/8/6/53820/State-Democrats-Call-On-GOP-To-Denounce.aspx) from expressions of racism by its members and supporters. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/19 "2012-08-03T14:30:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s not a hijack. The question posed in your OP assumes that the Republican Party _should_ be doing something to discourage racism. If other parties aren’t, why should the Republicans? It is a hijack. Why don’t you start your own thread? This is why nothing ever gets answered here…as soon as someone asks about one party, people start jumping and yelling that the other party isn’t doing it, so why should they? Like it or not, the Republican party has the racist tag attached to it in a way that the Democratic party does not. What is the Democratic party doing to discourage racism? I believe fighting much harder for minority rights. As for the Republicans, when I have asked this question before I have been pointed to [Bobby Jindal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jindal). “See, we have an Indian politician! We’re not racist!” I’m not sure that this is exactly convincing. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285/20 "2012-08-03T14:30:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t follow, and I don’t care about your posting history, and I never said that there were “lots of racist Republicans”. > Less reading into the question and more just reading the question might be helpful in your case. Czarcasm, I too viewed this as a “have you stopped beating your wife” thread. Seem snarky from the start to me. You’ve been here long enough to know that there is a litany of threads here mainly teed up (IMO) to start another anti-republican feeding frenzy. I think you should have spelled this out better from the start if you wanted to separate this thread from those. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-party-actively-doing-to-discourage-racism-in-their-party/630285.md?page=2)