If you have not listened to all of Romney's leaked speech, it is worth watching in its entirety. There is one portion of Romney's fundraising in private "let me tell you what I really think about the little people" conversation that has been little discussed by the pundit classes.
There, Romney said the following:
We're having a much harder time with Hispanic voters. And-- and if the Hispanic voting bloc-- be-- becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African American voting bloc has in-- in the past, why we're-- we're in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation.This is a slap in the face to tens of millions of Americans.
[And you wonder why the Tea Party GOP is trying to keep black and brown folks from voting.]
First, Romney assumes that black people are anti-citizens whose participation in the democratic process has severely damaged the country. Second, Hispanics and Latinos are going to complete this destruction if they let themselves be tainted by the bad habits of African Americans, and those anti-American tricksters in the Democratic Party.
Romney's racialization of black and brown folks' citizenship, especially given how we have been politically marginalized in a country where white supremacy was the law of the land for centuries, is one more example of the ugly racism which drives his "turn out the base" strategy. As Toure said some weeks ago, Romney is engaged in the systematic "niggerization" of President Obama. One of the ways this is done is by "niggerizing" black people as a group.
Some questions.
Why has there been so much silence on this issue? Are Romney's opponents and critics in the media saving this soundbite for a later moment? Is his quip about half of the population being lazy bums viewed as enough of a bullet, and to bring up another racist claim by Romney is considered overkill? Or do the pundits feel that they have already established the fact that Romney is using racist dog whistles, as well as trying to mobilize white racial resentment. Consequently, why go there again?
The black blogosphere and social activist types online are boohooing and bemoaning the "lynching" of two chairs, but they are silent about a candidate for the Office of the President of the United States who suggested that African Americans, a group which has helped drive and force American democracy forward, are actually agents of its imperilment.
Help me understand. What are your theories?
6 comments:
I think the main focus of the unspoken plan is to talk little and show up and vote in large numbers. It's a message that neither Romney, nor any republican, will be able to ignore on November 6. In the past, responding to the disparaging things some republican politicians have said about us has only led to faux outrage, so I think a better response to them is to beat them at the ballot box. This will send them back to their "quiet rooms" where they will have an opportunity (if they use it) to ponder the ways in which they screwed themselves.
Brother CDV, there are a lot of extrapolations in your post. I will respond to this comment: “Hispanics and Latinos are going to complete this destruction if they let themselves be tainted by the bad habits of African Americans.”
Lining up every four years and giving at least 90 percent of your vote to the Democratic candidate for president is more than a bad habit, it’s dumb, asinine, the embodiment of political immaturity.
The last Democratic presidential candidate who had to actually contend for the Black vote was JFK. Every Democratic candidate since then has known that they have the Black vote on lock. The results speak for themselves. That type of political mentality sure as hell does not advance the democratic process. All I see Romney saying is that he hopes that Hispanic voters don’t become political zombies.
I’m assuming you’ve seen the tapes from the Univision Forum. They grilled Obama on critical issues as they should have, and they were not nearly as hard on Romney given the “47 percent” issue.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/romney-my-campaign-is-about-the-100
http://www.buzzfeed.com/dorsey/obama-grilled-about-immigration-on-univision
Other questions and comments for Obama included:
“Why wasn't your administration better prepared with more security at our embassies on September 11?”
“Mr. President, you have been the president who has made the largest number of deportations in history, more than 1.5 million so far. You've separated many families.”
“You have supported President Calderon's policy against drug trafficking. Do you think that after 65,000 deaths it's time to change the strategy? Can you consider the 65,000 a failure and the policy should change? How many more people have to die?”
“Shouldn't Attorney General Eric Holder have known about that? And if he didn't, should you fire him?”
The MSM and others should take some journalism classes from Univision. These were tough questions on real issues that affect people’s lives, not extrapolations.
Can anyone envision the Black media asking the POTUS: More American citizens have died in Chicago than American soldiers in Afghanistan. How many more people have to die?
@mj. sounds like a formula to lose.
@mb. we all extrapolate. here i am doing little. romney said black and brown democrats will destroy america. imagine what would have happened if obama spoke a plain truth about white republicans destroying the country as they put party and anti-black animus above country?
i hear what you are saying. but, they are tangential points to the tired meme of black folks as perpetual anti-citizens that romney is playing with...and where there are no consequences, calling out, or attention.
The GOP has lost their minds. It's time to bury them. Romney isn't saying anything that I haven't been hearing for years. It's time to take the gloves off. It'll be over when Latinos know the truth about republicans? I wish Mitt would tell them about the Guatemalans he had working at his house. That's a pretty interesting story. His percentages would be worse than they are now.
As for Mitt's fear of a black and brown voting block, he should've thought about that when he was talking about self deportation. They should've thought about that when they committed themselves to the southern strategy.
I believe they haven't said much about the dog whistle because they're having too much fun as it is. He said enough on that tape to force the whole party on the defensive. It can also be used as a weapon in the near future.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/78582788/McCain-2008-Oppo-File#
I wonder how this guy got elected. Between Mitt and Palin, I would've went with the hockey mom.
Vic78
I understand your question, paraphrased, as why are pundits and media not talking about Romney insulting African-American voters specifically as well as anyone who makes use of a government program generally?
I think that this is not pointed out by mainstream news people because they are owned by the people Romney was talking to. It is financially inconvenient for them to notice their employers' racism.
I don't get why the Obama campaign isn't jumping on this, especially since they have no chance with the racist and big PAC money voters anyway.
My Dear Dear Friend Chauncy:
WHICH IS MORE RELEVANT to you?
1) What WHITE RIGHT WINGERS like Romney THINK will "destroy this nation"?
2) What the RISING DIVERSE PROGRESSIVE FUNDAMENTALIST SECULARIST army that is taking over this nation by attrition WILL DO TO KEEP THIS NATION FROM BEING DESTROYED - the best prevention being DEVELOPING "THE LEAST OF THESE" AS THEIR VOTE ALONE NO LONGER CHANGES THEIR LIVES as is proven in Detroit and Englewood in Chicago?
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