Nesrie
2064
One of them opened the door for these racists, led to them so no, not better.
Again you are trying to normalize racism, like everyone was racist and that is simply not true. There were people, who were white, who simply did not believe this. We did not have a 100% racist rate in all white people at this time or really any other time. I don’t know why you keep insisting we did.
There were white old men who supported Civil Rights, who believed in equality from the start. There were racists who had extreme bias but did not actually refer to other people as actual animals. I mean come on.
I’d say that if you don’t approve of a inter-racial marriage you are racist.
Back in 1958 only 4% of the population did. That’s why I make the claim that Reagan’s views on race were typical for his generation.
And a relevant comparison might be Howard Cosell getting fired from ABC and Monday Night Football for the same sentiment while Reagan was president.
Clay
2069
I thought that was Jimmy the Greek. Yep.
Jimmy (the Greek) Snyder, CBS Sports commentator, analyst and oddsmaker, was fired by the network yesterday after a controversial television interview Friday in which he said many blacks were superior athletes because of breeding from the time of slavery and that the only area in sports left for whites was coaching.
Fine set your own benchmark. A belief that black were dumber than whites, it was ok to have separate restrooms, schools, buses etc. Reagan’s views were no different in private than a majority of his generation.
Nesrie
2071
It’s not my benchmark… it’s this, the thing I actually quoted.
I’m not sure what Bobby quotes you have to base that on (they might exist, I’m sure he was at least as gun-shy on civil rights as JFK was), but there’s also this:
If any one of us liberals here started excusing Ted Kennedy or Bill Clinton their sexism with “well, that’s just what powerful politicians did back then” you can bet a bag of donuts we would not escape the smug, haughty refrain of “liberal hypocrisy.”
I wouldn’t use the term virtually every, I’ll use the term a solid majority. Which I’ll define as more than 67% percent. But yes, I believe that 2/3 of the men of the Greatest Generation had referred to blacks as coons, monkeys, vermin, or some other animal like comparison in their life.
Obviously there are exception like Jimmy Carter, but he has bloody Nobel Peace prize and widely regarded as moral authority. We also aren’t talking about what these men say in public but in private.
Also neither Ted Kennedy or Bill Clinton are boomers not greatest generation.
antlers
2075
I hardly think Cosell’s sentiment was the same as Reagan’s. (He did describe a player as a monkey, but arguably in a favorable context, and it’s plausible that he would use the same language to describe a white player. Yes, I was watching the game when he said it.)
For years a lot of people spoke to Reagan’s bigotry and use of racial animus for political gain but it was always just hand waved away with “liberals playing the race card again” or whatever. There’s a trajectory in the Republican party starting in the '60’s that has led us directly to trump (with the scary thought that trump might not even be the end point yet) and Reagan played a key role in that path. The entire idea of “principled conservatism” seems to me largely just a lie.
I don’t know what I’m trying to say here. It’s deeply frustrating and sad that in 2019 we still haven’t moved beyond the pathological issues this country has with race. We are never going to fix this until we acknowledge who we have been and who we still are.
“Other people were racist too!” is not in any way a relevant response to Reagan being disgustingly racist (along with his other many, many awful traits for which his grave should have a Taco Bell open next to it 24/7).
My dad was a huge homophobe. The fact that many others in his generation were similarly intolerant doesn’t excuse his attitudes. Lucky for us all, he wasn’t in charge of anything with any power over anyone’s life or livelihood on the scale that a monster like Reagan used to immiserate, impoverish, and murder millions.
Nesrie
2079
I have no doubt that someone who has been around the GOP and specific regions would think the whole country was just like that and shrug; they’re mistaken.
Timex
2080
Actually not corrupt here, but an indication that the party as a whole is super far gone.
He was the last black Republican in the House.
Looks like the Blexit movement is off to a good start.
