It’s easy enough to remind folks that the Dems were ALWAYS the racist party, but reasonable minds will accept that even though all post-World War II liberals are Democrats, it is safe to assume that they are not overtly racist—at least in the conventional sense. The problem I am referring to is something a bit different.
About 10 days ago, during a meeting with The Democratic Black Caucus, newly appointed DNC chairman Howard Dean questioned the 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.” This remark was not only stupid and insensitive, it was also factually incorrect in that Whites make up the majority of hotel staff personnel. But then, even if he was attempting to make a point about the lowest paid members of the hotel staff, he was carelessly painting entire races with the same brush. This is stereotyping that would otherwise drive the PC-crowd crazy.
Moreover, wasn’t he also obliquely disparaging so-called menial work? Strange that the chief spokesman for the self-proclaimed party of the working man would not realize that there is dignity in all work, regardless of remuneration. We must remind ourselves that this is the same Howard Dean, who in his eight years as governor of Vermont, never hired a single senior Black staffer. His excuse was even worse than the deed: Dean maintained there were “not enough Blacks” in Vermont.
Then, there was the shameless “high-tech lynching” of Clarence Thomas, and the relentless and over-the-top interrogations of Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales. This, against a backdrop of toadying to the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and, it must be said, sanctifying Martin Luther King, Jr., while virtually overlooking Thurgood Marshall, the man who actually won the battles in the courts, leading to landmark civil rights laws. Indeed, it was no less than the long established Baltimore-based The Afro-American Newspaper that said, after Marshall’s death, “We make movies about Malcom X, we get a holiday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, but every day we live the legacy of Justice Thurgood Marshall.”
What can we deduce from all this?
The answer is quite clear, if quite pathetic. To liberals, minorities are useful only so long as they stay on the reservation, remain dependent, and continue voting Democratic. Why else should the libs attack minorities who have achieved the highest levels of success, and stand in the way of those who would lead the government?
If a minority is no longer a victim, or worse yet, if he has succeeded without the help of Massah Dem, he is to be hated and feared. Street preachers like Jackson, Sharpton, and even King knew their place, and were tolerated by the Dem power structure. Marshall was not directly attacked, since it would have been folly to go after the first Black supreme court justice, and besides, the Dems could take credit for the original civil rights laws (which would never have passed without Republican support).
For the Dems, playing the victim card is the only way they know to reach minorities. Recall that the sordid Anita Hill assault on Clarence Thomas had nothing at all to do with his abilities as a jurist. They focused solely on her pathetic attempts at painting a picture of sexual harassment. I wonder how her national TV performance as the prissy old maid went down in the typical Black household.
The Democrats are smart enough to know that without the tribalistic support of minorities, they are finished, but are helplessly tied into the playbook of the past.
Now, the only question remaining is: When will the minorities wake up and smell the very stale coffee?