GOP congressman says Democrats are un-American for talking about racism

[workinclasszero]

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) said, "We don't talk about those things."
JOSH ISRAEL MAY 15, 2018, 8:32 AM

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) is very upset that Democrats think racial discrimination is still a problem. Days after a House floor clash with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) over the House Republican majority’s decision to rescind Obama-era protections against auto lending discrimination, he complained on Tuesday morning’s Fox & Friends that claims of modern day racial inequalities are not American.

Kelly, an automobile dealer, argued that at a time when the economy is good, House Democrats should not raise this issue. “We have seen the economy take off,” he told Fox & Friends. “I just think that if you come to the floor and there are 60 minutes to debate. 30 minutes on each side. But as I was sitting there, I had 30 minutes of Democrats coming down and talking about how bad automobile people are because they discriminate against nonwhite buyers. I said that’s not America. We don’t talk about those things.”

Kelly then credited President Trump for having united America and purportedly ending racial strife.

https://thinkprogress.org/pennsylvania-congressman-mike-kelly-un-american-to-talk-about-racism-fb297d0719c6/

[OneGrassRoot]

1. He's right...

"We don't talk about those things."

We've never had a national conversation about the foundation of white supremacy (and patriarchy) this nation was built upon, and how it continues to manifest in myriad ways, systemically and culturally.

We've been conditioned that it's "not polite" to talk about politics or religion; speaking of the realities of racism and bigotry gives the majority of white people the vapors, including a significant number of white progressives/liberals.

So, yeah, he's right that in the US "we don't talk about those things."

But we SHOULD. We MUST if we're ever going to stop this cycle of othering and destruction. Legislation can't fix a sickness in a culture, especially a sickness that is steeped in our foundation.

[dembotoz]

2. better words than i

[workinclasszero]

3. Yeah the dominant race/culture doesn't want to talk about its

discrimination and oppression of PoC in the USA.

Big surprise eh?

[brer cat]

18. +10000 nt

[EffieBlack]

20. Thank you!

[lunasun]

4. "We don't talk about those things" Who is we ? People who discriminate? Of course not

Yes trump has indeed united a certain sector of America that has solutions to racial strife

[malaise]

5. ReTHUGs don't get to define who is

fucking AMERICAN! Fuck them all. This real American shit has to be stopped

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/real-americans-are-a-myth-dont-you-dare-buy-it/2018/05/14/b4c3099e-57a3-11e8-8836-a4a123c359ab_story.html?utm_term=.9ab9a731b437

<snip>
by Eugene Robinson Opinion writer May 14 at 8:16 PM Email the author

The most offensive and corrosive idea in our politics today is that some Americans are more “real” than others. Don’t you dare buy it.

Republicans are cynically peddling this un-American conceit. “Real Americans” elected and continue to support President Trump, they claim, in defiance of snooty “coastal elites” who are hopelessly out of touch with the country. It’s a total crock, and shame on those using it for political gain.

The whole point of democracy is that every citizen’s voice is supposed to have equal weight — even voices in favor of fair and compassionate immigration policy, universal health care, fighting racism, promoting gender equality, enshrining LGBT rights and other progressive causes. There is no need to be tentative about these views for fear they somehow make you, I suppose, “unreal.” They do not.

[safeinOhio]

6. Lets give him a make over

to make him appear Black and then have him travel the country.

#Blacklikeme

[workinclasszero]

7. 'Kelly then credited President Trump for having united America and purportedly ending racial strife'

Yeah here's how Trump united America and ended racial strife!

[IronLionZion]

8. People enjoying privilege don't like to talk about the people they step on

because it makes them feel uncomfortable. The stepped on peoples need to stop being snowflakes and get over it already.

[workinclasszero]

10. Perfect

[RandomAccess]

12. Brilliant

[Solly Mack]

15. Thank you

[Baitball Blogger]

9. There's an autocrat who feels his unearned privilege slipping through his fingers.

[Gothmog]

11. Spoken like a true racist

[dalton99a]

13. It is un-American to ignore it.

[3catwoman3]

14. "Ending racial strife?"

Ending? ENDING? ENDING???

In what alternate universe?

[Wounded Bear]

16. They're saying that Trump ended the strife against racists...

[standingtall]

17. The worst kind of racist are the one that deny racism even exist

yeah this guy is the worst kind of racist.

[EffieBlack]

19. Sounds like some folk around here

You know - “the talking about racism is divisive, whatever that means” crowd ...