North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) suddenly closed the state’s Office of Hispanic/Latino affairs and “appears to have exacerbated the already tense relationship” between McCrory and the Latino community, the Charlotte Observer reports.
“Advocates say it sends a message that McCrory and Raleigh conservatives are less concerned with the needs of the Latino community. Paradoxically, it comes at a time when issues of deep concern, such as immigration, are at the political forefront.”
Rep. Don Young (R-AK), in an interview with KRBD, referred to Latinos by using the derogatory term “wetbacks.”
Said Young: “My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 or 60 wetbacks and — to pick tomatoes. You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”
According to the Washington Post, Young later released a statement: “I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in central California. I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.”
“One little lady got tired of the federal government telling her what to do. I’ve reached that point, Mr. Speaker, that I’m tired of giving in to the federal government.”
— Idaho state Rep. Brent Crane (R), quoted by the Idaho Statesman, botching a comparison of Rosa Parks’ arrest for violating a local law refusing to give up her seat on a bus to opposing a state-run health insurance exchange.
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“I hear you loud and clear, Barack Obama. You don’t represent the country that I grew up with. And your values is not going to save us. We’re going to take this country back for the Lord. We’re going to try to take this country back for conservatism. And we’re not going to allow minorities to run roughshod over what you people believe in!”
— Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert (R), at a Tea Party rally in Arkansas.
A new AP Poll finds racial attitudes have not improved in the four years since President Obama’s election “as a slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not.”
“In all, 51 percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election. In both tests, the share of Americans expressing pro-black attitudes fell.”
Andrew Sullivan: “Close to 80 percent of Republican voters expressed ‘explicit racism.’ Maybe that’s why they are comfortable with a candidate from a church whose theology remains based on white supremacy and that barred African-Americans from full membership as recently as 1978.”
“The institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.”
— Arkansas state Rep. Jon Hubbard (R), quoted by the Arkansas Times.
Washington, D.C. Council member Marion Barry “stepped up his campaign to mend relations with Asians, apologizing again for disparaging remarks he made about Koreans and Filipinos,” noting the United States “has had racial tensions since it was founded,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Barry: “The Irish caught hell, the Jews caught hell, the Polacks caught hell.”
Asked later about his reference to “Polacks,” Barry at first denied using the word, then retracted it. “I meant Poles.”
McKay Coppins: “If you’ve spent much time consuming conservative media lately, you’ve probably learned about a slow-burning ‘race war’ going on in America today. Sewing together disparate data points and compelling anecdotes like the attack in Norfolk, conservative bloggers and opinion-makers are driving the narrative with increasing frequency. Their message: Black-on-white violence is spiking — and the mainstream media is trying to cover it up.”
“What is this mac-and-cheese? Is it a black thing?”
— Pat Robertson, on The 700 Club, commenting on former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s favorite Thanksgiving dish.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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