I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but there’s been more criticism (and even more!) across the interwebs of my post yesterday condemning Lowell Feld and Blue Virginia for trying to use the two racist email leaks against Scott Rigell in VA-2. I am confident that we are going to beat Glenn Nye and I am glad to see that Rigell simply condemned what happened and did not let this pathetic attempt at an October surprise derail his campaign.
That being said, I do have a serious problem with the fact that it took months for whoever it was to step forward and release these emails. Lowell was wrong for using them the way he did, as was DPVA – they didn’t care about rooting out racism, they wanted to score cheap points against Rigell. If they cared about racism, wait til the race is over, release them then and let’s have a long discussion about race outside of an election cycle. But ignoring Lowell’s ethically challenged behavior, the more fundamental question remains and I don’t want the debate over these issues to obscure that question. And that question is why this ever happened in the first place.
I have been working with Terrence Boulden and a number of other black Republican activists to try and increase participation in the party of groups who I believe are underrepresented – that includes ethnically diverse people, gays and lesbians and other groups that one doesn’t think of when one thinks Republican. I believe the Republican party’s message has an appeal to everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other divisive grouping. Fundamentally, we as Republicans believe in freedom, limited government, low taxes, free enterprise and the value of human life. That’s not something that’s limited to old white men. They are as close to universal values as one can find.
When someone, especially a leader in the party, sends out what can only be described as a racist email, it undercuts the message me, Terrance and other big-tent Republicans are trying to craft. It reinforces the negative stereotype that exists and gives Democrats – who seem to care less about racism than they do about calling Republicans racist – more ammunition to use to ensure that they can maintain their electoral base without having to represent it. People need to recognize that what happened here was wrong – sending those emails out was wrong. It was unnecessary and it damages far more than simply those who sent or received the emails. It damaged the party, and – more importantly – it damages all of us who want to live in a world where racism is a thing of the past.
I want to know who leaked these emails. Not because I want to punish them for leaking them – I think leaking them was the absolute right thing to do (something that not all of my colleagues agree with). What I don’t understand is why it took months to do it. No one is arguing that sending these emails out was okay, or that the content wasn’t racist. My biggest issue with how they were released is that by waiting months, the releaser let them be turned into a weapon for use against Scott Rigell. That makes me think that the releaser doesn’t think these emails were wrong or racist, per se – simply that they look bad and can be used against Scott Rigell. And that attitude is just as bad and needs to have the cleansing light of day shown down upon it too.
I call on whoever leaked these emails to come clean, admit who you are, and explain why you did it. If you did it as an October surprise, admit it. If you did it because you thought they were racist and needed to be broadcast, tell us why you waited months to do so.
Racism is a problem that must be confronted head on by people in both parties. And part of doing so is to stop treating it like some kind of political weapon that can be turned against an opponent. Just one read through the various threads on these issues on Blue Virginia makes it clear that some Democrats are desperate to believe that all Republicans are racist and we do our best to use race as a way of “boost the sense of community and esprit de corps among . . . Republicans.” That’s idiotic. Most Republicans – but unfortunately not all – recognize racism for the evil that it is, and are proud of the role that our party played in ending state sponsored racism before the Civil War and during the Jim Crow era. I am one of them.
That’s why things like these emails, or the use of a ridiculous TV ad telling hispanic voters not to vote at all out in Nevada, infuriate me so much. This country has come so far on issues of race and so have both the political parties. The Democrats are no longer lynching people and denying blacks the right to vote. Republicans have reached out and welcomed ethnic communities into our ranks and have been quick to throw out racists and those who would try to play overt racial politics. I was proud of how quickly Scott Rigell reacted Monday and yesterday to these emails. I know both parties have a long way to go, but we, as a country are making progress.
These types of events hinder that progress. As Coby Dillard said yesterday on his blog, “the first part of doing outreach is making sure you’re not slapping the people you’re supposed to be reaching out to.”
The bottom line, for me, is that things like this can’t happen. No more racist jokes. No more snide comments about the President and First Lady. None of that. If we are truly going to live in a post-racial society, it is going to be Republicans who are going to have to make it that way. The Democrats are perfectly happy with the status quo – they can go on accusing us of racism while they ignore issues that are important to black and Hispanic voters and they’ll never complain. It’s up to us to turn the idea of a post-racial American into reality. And we can start by cleaning up our own messes.
No more racist emails. No more jokes. No more hiding racism behind the moniker of just being “politically incorrect.” I don’t want to give the Democrats any more ammunition and – most importantly – I want to move politics beyond race.
