Branding all critics and opponents racists has been a standard progressive and Democratic Party ploy for a long time, though it shifted into high gear when that was the primary argument used to deflect legitimate observations that Barack Obama was poor POTUS with a great PR machine. Then it shifted into higher gear as the “Get Trump!” effort became an ongoing crusade. Trump didn’t oppose letting illegals cross the border with impunity because it was, you know, insane policy for any nation; his opposition was based in racism. The tactic is dishonest, unfair, divisive, despicable and indefensible, but as the late Harry Reid—forwarding address: Hell—explained cheerily as he defended the Big Lie he circulated about Mitt Romney in the 2012 campaign, it works.
I am now noticing that the Race Card has been designated as the Axis’s official counter to the looming GOP recycling of Ronald Reagan’s effective question during the 1980 campaign: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” By almost every objective measure, as with Jimmy Carter’s failed Presidency, the unavoidable answer today is “Are you kidding? NO!” It’s a powerful weapon. So the Axis has declared it to be racist.
You see, as Whoopi Goldberg angrily (but not coherently) ranted on “The View” this week, the question really is a racist dog-whistle. The wielders of Reagan’s query are talking about all those brown folks pouring over the border (They are just “immigrants” after all) and all those people of color holding down DEI positions and hiring minorities like mad because they are minorities. The white supremacists who support Donald Trump—the nation is just as racist as it was when Emmett Till was lynched, you know—don’t like racial justice finally being served, just as their racist Supreme Court killed affirmative action, just as racist conservatives got brilliant scholar Claudine Gay pushed out at Harvard because she was black.
I have to admit, it’s unethical, cynical and disgusting, but the strategy is sound. Republicans would be wise to have an intelligent, direct, articulate response ready.
Ethics Alarms 
Even if they have a good response, it won’t work well because (1) it won’t be broadcast by our official deep state media and (2) any coverage it gets will declare the rebuttal racist.
We live in a society where everyone knows there is a double standard and it has been ingrained in them to accept it or suffer the consequences. We just accept the fact that a judge can rule that Donald Trump committed fraud by not valuing his properties exactly the same as the bank that assessed them while that same judge committed a MUCH worse misvaluation on Mar-a-Lago in his ruling. No one even thought twice about the double standard in that. We live in a society where a white woman (if a Democrat) can declare a black man a white supremacist because he disagrees with her.
“the late Harry Reid—forwarding address: Hell—”
Somebody pissed my pants after I read that line.
If Hell exists as advertised, I’m certain that’s a good address.
I think I wrote (D-Hell) once.
I’ll give you credit, then. I’m sure we were not alone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Michigan
I’ve been to a HELL surrounded by Tropical Splendor…on Grand Cayman Island…
PWS
If it does not work, I believe the reason it will not work will not be because conservatives deny the accusation, but that minorities will not believe it.
Black people may generally put trust in the Democrats, but they aren’t stupid. They may be inclined to be sympathetic to accusations of racism, but it seems that they are not inclined to believe accusations that contradicts their own observations.
-Jut
I suspect Blacks are not interested in or motivated to join the Republican Party mostly because the RNC has been terrible in its outreach to the Black community. Sean Hannity is a prime example of how the RNC muffs the message. He constantly says, “The US is not a racist country and Republicans don’t see race!” That is a naive position.
A better message would be, “yes, there are still race-related problems in this country but we have come so far in addressing them since the 1960s and we still have work to do. While we don’t think Michael Brown or George Floyd were killed by racist cops in a racist system, we Republicans failed to understand why the Black community was so outraged at what happened in those instances. We, the Republican party have to come to terms with the community’s distrust (rightly or wrongly) of the power structure. However, while we recognize all racial differences as important to our many communities, we Republicans believe race is not a determining factor in an individual’s success or failure. We as a party promote and encourage self-reliance and welcome all under our tent who believe that government is not the solution to all social ills, but is, in many cases, a hindrance to social, economic, and political progress and societal cohesion.”
That same message should be broadcast loudly and constantly to the Hispanic communities, too.
jvb
John Burger is correct insofar as the need to engage with the minority communities. However, I would suggest that instead of acknowledging that racial issues are something needing to be addressed the party should ask those communities what are their issues and how they should be addressed rather than imposing a solution upon them. The old method of having a dialogue with race hucksters should be discarded and instead hold meetings in individual communities. Any solution must obtain a buy in from all sides and all sides have some responsibility for achieving success. This will require metrics through which responsibility for success or failure can be objectively measured. Increasing funding for schools will be of little value if Jamal or Juan spends their days hanging out instead of in a classroom.
You cannot fix the police problem if the community has no understanding of the training. Nor, can the idea that the police are hunting blacks be dispelled if blacks are taught to fear the police that results is the police having to escalate the interaction. The community needs to know what their rights and responsibilities are in dealing with the police and be held to account for failing to meet their basic responsibilities. The public needs to know up front that resistance to the police encountered during an interaction will be a bar to law suits unless they can demonstrate the resistance occurred defensively from unwarranted physical force by police. The police need to know that deviation from agreed procedures will result in disciplinary measure. It may be necessary to avoid trying to find infractions in the short run to build trust. What I mean by this is that the same assumptions a policeman would use in a traffic stop for a well dressed white man or woman should be the same as those for a young minority. The police need to build trust even if the they feel they did nothing wrong. The best way to protect the blue line is to get the community behind you.
Economic success in minority communities has less to do with money than it does on skill sets. Education of the young must require the parents take an active role in their children’s future and not make excuses why it cannot be done. Republicans should address those barriers to success that must be fixed by society and hold the parents responsible for that which they can control such as attendance and homework. School systems must be evaluated from the top down which means that anyone can be fired including board members for failure. There is no reason in this world for educational physical plants to be in horrid conditions. There is also no reason in this world that graffiti be allowed to remain on public school property. People must learn that any vertical or horizontal surface is not their canvas unless they purchased it. Respecting other’s property is a life skill that must be learned before anything else can be achieved.
Until we begin to hold all parties accountable for success or failure nothing can be achieved because government cannot solve all your problems without severe restrictions on your liberty or making bigger issues out of socially manageable ones.
Excellent observations, Chris. You stated what I wanted say so much more eloquently.
jvb
I am at a point that if no matter what I do is racist I may as well behave like one. We should be demanding white only safe spaces and requiring BET to employ 60+% white people to be representative of the overall population. The View must include a middle aged white heterosexual male panelist.
You know what else works? Creating division so that one group will never accept another.
Speaking of “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” I thought this cartoon was appropriate.
Yes, it is a sad day when you can fit over $100 of groceries into the trunk of a Miata.
How can you have an articulate response to a complete non-sequitur? It’s like trying to prove a negative — almost impossible.
Declaring people racist works because those that listen to that accusation are pre-disposed to see racism everywhere. After all, the world is full of people who tell them constantly that racism is, in fact, everywhere and is getting worse all the time. Oh, yeah, and racism is only a white thing, dont’cha know.
The only plausible response to broad-brush accusations of whites-only racism is to mock them, and Republicans in particular seem to have difficulty with mocking anything without looking mean or angry. Humor just doesn’t filter through those things.
It already worked for them once. When Biden got elected they kept saying how poor the economy was, which aside from the mandatory shutdowns they pushed for, the economy was doing quite well. Even with the shutdowns, most people did okay during it thanks to the emergency funding from the government. Indeed, I’m certain that Trump pushed to reopen everything as soon as possible. No one is talking about the supply chain issues that still exist. They blame Covid still, but that argument is getting mighty old. Things I consider luxury items like framing supplies, loose teas, etc are still hard to get various varieties. Other things like equipment tires, PVC fittings, car parts, etc are also still randomly unavailable. Welcome to the “new normal”. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. The scariest part is that both sides say the election is somehow rigged, unfair, stolen etc. Is there any point to voting? I’m not even sure. There was a measure in the last election here on property taxes which failed. The governor held an emergency session and changed the taxes anyway, right after it failed in public elections. What was the point if they were going to do it anyways?