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Amazing, isn't it, the double-standards at work. Haley Barbour's comments are broadcast by the left-bloggeria as proof that Barbour, and by extension Republicans in general, are racist. But when Harry Reid praises Obama for being light skinned and not talking with a "negro dialect" its okay. When Joe Biden describes Obama as being "clean and articulate" (as if that is a surprise) then there's no big deal. Sen. Robert Byrd says "white ******" on a t.v. interview and its simply a gaffe.
It seems that the "D" after a politician's name is a magic letter that exonerates that which condemns those with an "R" after theirs.
No one said that Barbour is racist. I'm only saying that his memory is in full revisionist mode. Mississippi was HELL! And him trying to make it seem as if it wasn't is a joke.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 12-22-2010 at 10:34 AM..
Reason: Edited quoted text
No one said that Barbour is racist. I'm only saying that his memory is in full revisionist mode. Mississippi was HELL! And him trying to make it seem as if it wasn't is a joke.
I beg to differ. The implication here is that Barbour is racist, the point is to put the scarlet R on his head and thereby dismiss every political stance or his very involvement in politics.
Here is how wonderful Yazoo City was during the Civil Rights Era....you know...when according to Haley Barbour, he can't remember it being "so bad." From a 1956 piece from David Halberstam in Commentary:
Look," said Nick Roberts of the Yazoo City Citizens Council, explaining why 51 of 53 Negroes who had signed an integration petition withdrew their names, "if a man works for you, and you believe in something, and that man is working against it and undermining it, why you don't want him working for you--of course you don't."
In Yazoo City, in August 1955, the Council members fired signers of the integration petition, or prevailed upon other white employers to get them fired. But the WCC continues to deny that it uses economic force: all the Council did in Yazoo City was to provide information (a full-page ad in the local weekly listing the "offenders"); spontaneous public feeling did the rest."
Yea...that place was a reeeeaaaaaal oasis of racial cooperation.
Apples and oranges. Barbour was describing how Yazoo City dealth with integration 15 years after the incident Halberstam documented. Of course, for race pimps, it's forever 1955.
No one said that Barbour is racist. I'm only saying that his memory is in full revisionist mode. Mississippi was HELL! And him trying to make it seem as if it wasn't is a joke.
Barbour, as I pointed out earlier, was commenting about the home town of his youth, not all of Mississippi. See what I mean about mischaracterizing. You people are so good at this.
Mississippi is almost 38% black, making it the state with the highest black population in the country by percentage and yet it is hell on earth for blacks?
Not denying anything said here but it is a little weird.
These Black Americans people still face a considerable amount of oppression, poor living conditions, sub-standard educations and lack of economic opportunity.
I beg to differ. The implication here is that Barbour is racist, the point is to put the scarlet R on his head and thereby dismiss every political stance or his very involvement in politics.
Its the New McCarthyism.
He made not be a racist but the fact he defends "Citizen Councils" does taint whatever credibility he might have had in the area of civil rights. His recollection of his high school and college experiences are also highly dubious. When he graduated from Ole Miss the population was still 99.3% white yet he considers it "integrated".
From the political standpoint everything about his persona brings forth images of Bull Conner and the Old South. Politically he'll do well in the Republican primaries in the South but I really can't see this guy winning an election versus Barack Obama. He simply represents an era that most Americans would like to move past.
Does he REALLY represent the best candidate the Republican Party can put forth at the start of the second decade of the 21st century. If he is what does that say about the Republican Party?
I beg to differ. The implication here is that Barbour is racist, the point is to put the scarlet R on his head and thereby dismiss every political stance or his very involvement in politics.
Its the New McCarthyism.
Geez...the guy is defending white citizens councils. Imagine what you'd think if a black politician defended Farrakhan. It's the same damn thing for crying out loud.
Again, no one said that Barbour is a racist. If i thought he was, i'd just say so. It's not like you could beat the hell out of me...it's the Internet. The fact that you guys are so sensitive about the "scarlet R" (your words...not mine) says something about your party. Maybe you oughta address THAT instead of playing the race card.
Barbour, as I pointed out earlier, was commenting about the home town of his youth, not all of Mississippi. See what I mean about mischaracterizing. You people are so good at this.
His hometown is IN Mississippi, and was not some aberration within his state. I already provided a link basically proving that his hometown was no different than the rest of the state. Barbour is a smart pol...he knows that his town was no better than Mississippi at large. The guy looks at his hometown with rose colored glasses, as most people do with their hometowns. I get that! But he's wrong, pure and simple.
As for "You people," well...who are you talking about specifically?
"When asked why my hometown in Mississippi did not suffer the same racial violence when I was a young man that accompanied other towns' integration efforts, I accurately said the community leadership wouldn't tolerate it and helped prevent violence there. My point was my town rejected the Ku Klux Klan, but nobody should construe that to mean I think the town leadership were saints, either. Their vehicle, called the 'Citizens Council,' is totally indefensible, as is segregation. It was a difficult and painful era for Mississippi, the rest of the country, and especially African Americans who were persecuted in that time."
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