Race & Politics
Nancy Benac, "Dean Ready To Take Charge Of Democrats," The Associated Press, 2/11/05:
During a meeting Friday with the Democratic black caucus, Dean praised black Democrats for their work for the party, then questioned Republicans' ability to rally support from minorities.
``You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room?,'' Dean asked to laughter. ``Only if they had the hotel staff in here.''
The chair of the Republican Party of Virginia had this to say about it.
We're all aware that had a Republican stereotyped hotel staff as people of color, we'd be going down that Trent Lott road again. This is a major reason why Ms. Obenshain Griffin might feel compelled to make a release like this - the Dems would have.
What gives? I wish we'd just get off of race. Does anyone really believe Howard Dean or Trent Lott are racists?
posted by Randy @ 2/18/2005 01:46:00 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I don't believe Howard Dean (and probably Trent Lott, though I know less about him) is a racist. Dean's remarks were unfortunate, could certainly be taken as offensive by "people of color," and I hope he is more aware of how his comments can be construed in the future (especially as he is now the national face/voice of his party.) However, I don't think that the Lt. Gov. needs to come out and condemn Dean's remarks lest it be assumed that the VA Democratic Party condones racism. That's a big leap and is indicative of the over-used racial card being once again bandied about, as you suggest Randy.
The unfortunate part is that all this stupid wrangling over semantics from well-meaning (albeit careless) politicos tends to create a smoke screen that covers more malicious examples of genuine bigotry and racial discrimination. I'm not trying to say that Dean's or Lott's remarks don't deserve censure--whether they are meant to be racist or not, they are still offensive and they deserve to be called on the carpet for it. Bigotry in any form is despicable. But let's at least consider the source, give the benefit of the doubt to those who deserve it, put away the partisan "he said/she said," and focus on the real problems we're all facing together as a nation.
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