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Showing Original Post only (View all)Wanna Know Who Made Racism ''Acceptable Again'' in the good ol' USA? [View all]
This guy:
In 1980, Reagan declared his candidacy in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the "community" where three Civil Rights marchers were murdered in cold blood.
Reagan, White As Snow
by Alec Dubro
www.tompaine.com/, May 13, 2007
EXCERPT...
Domestically, he opposed every legislative remedy for African Americans, betraying a meanness of spirit and an open racism. As Sidney Blumenthal wrote in The Guardian in 2003:
Reagan opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (calling it "humiliating to the South" , and ran for governor of California in 1966 promising to wipe the Fair Housing Act off the books. "If an individual wants to discriminate against Negroes or others in selling or renting his house," he said, "he has a right to do so." After the Republican convention in 1980, Reagan traveled to the county fair in Neshoba, Mississippi, where, in 1964, three Freedom Riders had been slain by the Ku Klux Klan. Before an all-white crowd of tens of thousands, Reagan declared: "I believe in states' rights."
It's hard to believe now, but in 1965, a higher percentage of congressional Republicans voted for the Voting Rights Act than Democrats. Reagan, then, wasn't following party tradition; he was making a grab for the white racist vote-and it worked. Southern Democrats abandoned the party en masse for one more welcoming to white supremacy. No wonder so many loved, and still love, the man: He validated people's whiteness.
It's true that Reagan knew enough to occasionally disguise his racism. He appointed Samuel Pierce to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where Pierce presided over the halving of housing subsidies. No matter. Reagan couldn't remember the man's name. Once, at a reception for the nation's mayors, he greeted Pierce with a '"Hello, Mr. Mayor." Despite this, a few black conservatives, such as Armstrong Williams, were willing to validate him as someone who knew better than the "civil rights establishment" what was good for African Americans.
But it was in foreign affairs that he showed that he could rise above mere opportunism and flaunt his racism for all the world to see. He was the best friend that South Africa's apartheid government had in the developed world.
CONTINUED...
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/Reagan_WhiteAsSnow.html
When President, he allowed his staff to refer to the slain civil rights leader as "Martin Lucifer Coon."
Anybody wonder who he meant when he conflated "food-stamps, vodka, Cadillacs, and welfare queens"?
Anybody wonder why the United States has rotted from the head down?
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Wanna Know Who Made Racism ''Acceptable Again'' in the good ol' USA? [View all]
Octafish
Jun 2015
OP
Amen! 'The legacy of Saint Reagan is one of treachery, malfeasance and treason IMO.'
Surya Gayatri
Jun 2015
#162
And then they fell to their knees, lit the incense, and prayed "Yes, Yes, YES!!!"
calimary
Jun 2015
#64
I recall seeing that live (or on the news the next day) during GHWB's inauguration
Chiyo-chichi
Jun 2015
#88
That's the right answer. But on DU it's tricky to criticize Reagan, many here voted for him and
Bluenorthwest
Jun 2015
#4
In addition to defending Reagan, they defend Bush I, II and the rest of the Crime Family
Octafish
Jun 2015
#10
Reagan could not have pulled it off without the willing acquiescence of many who should have known
KingCharlemagne
Jun 2015
#31
Reagan was a fascist piece of shit, going back to his days as Gov. of California when he threatened
KingCharlemagne
Jun 2015
#35
Reagan called in the National Guard over 4 "dirty words" in The Berkely Barb
stuffmatters
Jun 2015
#137
The thing to remember about RWR is that he started as a Cold War Dem. He's the missing link
leveymg
Jun 2015
#80
Good points all. Simply add a little astrology to the mix and, voila, you've got
KingCharlemagne
Jun 2015
#84
Racism is going to get worse as competition for the few good jobs that are still
Baitball Blogger
Jun 2015
#7
+1. This country was built by African slave labor and the extermination of indigenous peoples
YoungDemCA
Jun 2015
#103
How Ronald Reagan used coded racial appeals to galvanize white voters and gut the middle class
Octafish
Jun 2015
#191
We were in Alabama when Kennedy was shot, and Dad was working in Huntsville (Apollo program stuff)
hatrack
Jun 2015
#123
Lee Atwater had an army of racists and supremacists he used to political advantage.
blm
Jun 2015
#29
Lee Atwater had SC wired with his racist hit squad including a group from Bob Jones Univ.
blm
Jun 2015
#210
And yet in an interview with Mike Wallace in 1988, Ronny couldn't understand why so many
muntrv
Jun 2015
#32
Actually, the Dixiecrats who revolted against Civil Rights gains in the 60s and became Southern
Liberal_Stalwart71
Jun 2015
#43
RACISM has always been around and never went out of style. There never was a time when
Liberal_Stalwart71
Jun 2015
#44
Saying that racism is "acceptable again" implies that there was a time when racism
Liberal_Stalwart71
Jun 2015
#188
Wrong. Nixon led the resurgence. Read again. The Southern Strategy was Nixon's agenda.
Liberal_Stalwart71
Jun 2015
#199
You simply won't admit your mistake. The assertion you made, "Reagan was responsible for racism's
Liberal_Stalwart71
Jun 2015
#211
Reagan was one of the worst Presidents for the poor, the marginalized, the historically oppressed
YoungDemCA
Jun 2015
#118
It stopped -- for a time, anyway -- in the Oval Office during the Kennedy Administration.
Octafish
Jun 2015
#193
Not to mention he kicked off his Presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi as a symbol of
Hoyt
Jun 2015
#101
I am sorry I sound so pedantic...lots of history being rewritten when it comes to fascism.
Octafish
Jun 2015
#107
I have to admit, I'm on my phone and pretty much just looked at the photo. Just went back
Hoyt
Jun 2015
#111
Presidents can't do anything progressive without masses of ordinary people demanding that they do it
YoungDemCA
Jun 2015
#114
Well, in all fairness to Ronnie the Empty Suit, Tricky Dick was really pretty bad too:
struggle4progress
Jun 2015
#115
Ronnie was caught too, but the House decided not to pursue impeachment
struggle4progress
Jun 2015
#121
Had Reagan been impeached, his forced testimony would have outed his alzheimers
stuffmatters
Jun 2015
#141
What a monster! Also, for what he was responsible for in South America....
Joe Chi Minh
Jun 2015
#135
Don't forget the site of Reagan's first speech after receiving gthe 1980 Republican nomination.
bulloney
Jun 2015
#138
Philadelphia, Mississippi had a population of about 5,000 and had no significance whatsoever
aint_no_life_nowhere
Jun 2015
#183
K&R! I thought it was going to be Poppy Bush refering to Jeb's kids as his "little brown babies"....
Ghost in the Machine
Jun 2015
#148
Bush Defends 'Little Brown Ones' Term for Grandchildren, Tells 'Pride and Love'
Octafish
Jun 2015
#185
Bookmarked and K & R. Thanks for restoring some historical perspective to the debate.
Surya Gayatri
Jun 2015
#158
It was screamed in the 80's, and it was 100% true: Reagan was a god damned puppet.
C Moon
Jun 2015
#168