For a while there have been versions of this saying: Not all Republicans are racist, but if you are a racist the Republican Party is the party for you.
Now this may be taken in either of two ways in terms of the GOP. The less
consequential–even somewhat anodyne–meaning is that American racists are attracted to the Republican Party because it has long favored tough-on-crime policies and low taxes/small government policies, which have always translated into harsh punishments of and weak federal support for poor people, among whom minority populations figure disproportionately. This view can seem to insulate the Party itself from charges of racism and racial animus.
The other way of reading the statement is not only less forgiving–it is condemnatory. This view asserts that the Party itself is racist at its core. Its basic principles and fundamental operations are racist. They are dedicated to the protection and strengthening of white dominance–and domination–in the United States. They are racially exclusionary. Today, in the 21st century, the Republican Party is the nation’s beating heart of systemic racism at both the national and state levels. It is the principal mechanism of institutional discrimination against minorities of color. As a result, whether or not individual Republicans feel that they are racist, supporting today’s GOP while remaining silent on its racist policies is itself a racist act.
Sadly, there is no plausible argument against this second reading. There is no rational or factual way to challenge this conclusion. There is only the denial of truth, something else that the GOP has adopted as a routine part of its operations that serves its racist purposes. Continue reading “The GOP Is Ground Zero for American Racism”
