It's the Racism, Stupid

I really don't understand why mainstream journalists won't just say it, whatever "it" happens to be. When someone flat out lies, like Lieberman did this week, they won't say it. When an entire party is built on a racist foundation, they will write articles wondering why black people won't vote for that party. But whatever they do, they won't actually mention the reason why.

Today's Washington Post does it again. Why are there only 36 black delegates at the Republican Convention? Maybe because black people remember what happened in Florida in 2000? The article makes no mention of that. Maybe because black people knew what Jesse Helms stood for and what Trent Lott was talking about? The article makes no mention of that. Maybe because black people are well aware of what changed from the 50s (Republicans' favorite decade) to the 60s (the root of all contemporary problems, in the conservative cosmography)? The article makes no mention of that.

The article does, however, contain much sincere head-scratching.

Republicans spent much of the past decade working to improve their minority outreach, particularly to blacks and Hispanics. But a number of setbacks, including an anti-Republican national mood, anger over the response to Hurricane Katrina and the Democratic nomination of Sen. Barack Obama, have largely negated their efforts, several Republicans said.

Well, sure, if black voters hadn't overwhelmingly favored Democrats before 2004.

The Republican party threw its lot in with the segregationists in the 1970s, and the only change has been to move away from explicit appeals to race and toward code words (crime). Republicans have gutted the civil rights division of the Justice Department -- do they think black voters are so stupid that they won't notice? Of course not, but they know that journalists are that stupid, so they can be as racist as they want to be and still appeal to exurban voters who can't allow themselves to think that they are voting for racists.

Although all Republicans aren't racist, the Republican party is full of racists and racist policies, and that is the reason black people don't vote for Republicans. No need to wonder, Washington Post.