Top 12 Racist Politicians of Modern History

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/147702/top_12_racist_politicians_of_modern_history

A huge swath of politicians have been linked to white supremacist groups or made outright racist statements.

1. Jesse Helms, Unabashed Racist

Jesse Helms was the last unabashed racist politician in this country. His ascension to Congress was largely due to his willingness to pick at the scab of slavery and segregation, and to inflame racial resentment against African Americans. There have likely been many racists after him, but he was the last to stake his political career on it.

:snip:

2. Jim 'Raghead' Knotts

For this example, we don’t have to reach back too far. In the 2010 South Carolina Republican primary, Knotts calls his political rival Nikki Haley and President Obama ragheads.

:snip:

3. Robert Byrd, Pre-Transformation

Shortly after his death earlier this year, the late Robert Byrd’s personal story was told as one of great transformation. He did, later in life, become a champion of civil rights. However, during the early part of his career, he was a unabashed bigot and member of the Ku Klux Klan. Byrd was a Democrat.



:snip:

4. John McCain, No Friend To Asians

During the 2004 presidential election, Sen. John McCain told a group of reporters on his campaign bus, "I hated the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live."

"Gook" is a derogatory term used against Asians. Although McCain later said he was referring specifically to his prison guards and not all Asians, many Asian Americans took offense. McCain refused to apologize. Despite the gooks remark, McCain was still considered a serious candidate in that election. And ironically, he was not soundly defeated by Bush until the Bush campaign leveled their own race-baiting at him, claiming his adopted daughter was actually the love child of an adulterous affair he had with a black woman.


More at the link ---

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[davidinalameda]

2. bullshit

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[VMI Dem]

6. "We live in an era in which tolerance has progressed beyond a mere call for acceptance..."

and crossed over to become a demand for the rest of us to give up beliefs that we revere and hold most dear in order to prove our collective purity. At some point, a line must be drawn by rational men and women who are willing to say, 'Enough!' " Robert Byrd


Looks like Byrd should have STFU.

[slampoet]

8. Context? Location? Date?

Or how about you just tell us what to think?

[VMI Dem]

9. Context: gay people. Location: Senate. Date: Way back in 2006.

In what context could that statement not be homophobic. I'm interested to know.

[CLANG]

13. How about way back in 1996...

Senate Congressional Record

Proceedings and Debates of the 104th Congress, Second Session

Vol. 142 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1996 No. 123


This was not about race, it was about gay marriage. This OP is about racism. But I guess you just had to bash Byrd in any case.

[VMI Dem]

15. He used the n-word fairly recently too.

He was definitely a savvy pol. Couldn't change those stripes though.

Calling a bigot a bigot is bashing I guess. I'll do it all day long.

[CLANG]

17. There you go again!

Making a charge with no link! LINK PLEASE!!

[VMI Dem]

18. You can look it up. Fox News interview.

But I think you know that. If not, you should do a little research into the guy before defending him.

Later.

[CLANG]

19. LOL! Is that where you get your "news" from? ROFLMAO!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Sorry, pal, you make a controversial statement and it is YOUR responsibility to post a link. Asking someone to google is a freeper trick.

[LostinVA]

22. Again, VMIDem's posts references very well-known slurs by Byrd

[VMI Dem]

28. Its funny when the controversial statement is pointing some guys use of a slur.

How twisted is that world view?

[VMI Dem]

27. What difference does it make if he said the n-word on tv? It must suck to have to defend such hate.

Or maybe it doesn't suck.

I didn't ask anyone to google. Afraid to see the truth?

:hi:

[CLANG]

31. I'm not going to spend any time trying to search for it on Fux.

If you provide a link I'd love to read it.

[CLANG]

33. You can look it up. Fox News interview.

When, where, what interview? If you know where this article is, you could provide a link. Otherwise I don't really care either way. The guy is dead now. I think if he was still a racist to the end, it wouldn't surprise me all that much, but I didn't see it in the senate.

[VMI Dem]

37. It was on tv. Hint: try youtube.

;-)

[CLANG]

38. I did find it on youtube as a matter of fact.

He said there were "white niggers" as well as black, and Asian "niggers". What he didn't say was what he meant by that. He seemed oblivious, but he was reinforcing the notion that "nigger" is something very negative. It doesn't seem to occur to him until later that day that what he said revealed his racism, probably because of people calling his office to complain.

At least he voted like a democrat in most cases. RIP Uncle Kracker.

[LostinVA]

21. That is a VERY well known quote -- the poster is correct n/t

[CLANG]

32. What quote? The poster just said Byrd "said the n-word" or some such.

And I'm supposed to spend my time searching through the Faux News website to try to find this reference. If he can't have the netiquette to provide a link for his assertion, then I won't waste my time.

[LostinVA]

20. Byrd was horribly and proudly homophobic and anti-choice

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. I don't care if he never left the Klan. As long as at the end of the day, his vote

demonstrated otherwise, I don't care about his personal beliefs.

Did he leave the Democratic Party in opposition to civil rights and become Republican as most of the Dixiecrats did? No.

What does his voting record show? It doesn't reflect someone who is a bigot, now does it?

Again, I don't give a damn about what he thought of me as a black woman, black people, Hispanics, Jews, as long as when he sat his ass down to vote, he pulled the lever in the rigth direction.

[LostinVA]

23. His votes showed his bigotry

Especially if you were a GLBT American or a woman wanting reproductive choice.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

30. I thought the post was about racial bigotry? But, yes, I do agree.

He was conservative in his social views--which I thought he had attempted to reconcile later on in his life, but apparently not. Misogyny and homophobia are not acceptable.

[JoePhilly]

4. Strom Thurmond should be #2

[LostinVA]

24. He MAY have been even worse than Helms.

[mitchum]

36. He was.

[-..__...]

5. I didn't see George Wallace listed...

or David Duke (although the latter was pretty much a minor player).

I'm willing to give McCain a free ride for his comments... spending 5 1/2 years in gook North Vietnamese POW camp would
affect/have a lasting impression on anyones opinion.

[onenote]

11. If this list is supposed to include bigots of all stripes

then Richard Nixon, who had a real thing about Jews, ought to be on it.

[KamaAina]

12. No George "Macaca" Allen?

:shrug:

[LostinVA]

25. That surprised me, too

Allen is a freaking Klansman, and was quite publicly bigoted in a relatively short time as a so-called "public servant."

[Joe Fields]

14. Lester Maddox

[KeepCongressBlue]

16. McCain, Barr, and even Barbour aren't that bad

I'd rather put in Jeff Sessions, Tom Tancredo, Steve King, George Wallace, Strom Thurmond in.

[LostinVA]

26. Yeah, and George Allen

McCain is nothing to write home about, but he is NOWHERE as bad as everyone you mentioned.

I think there should be separate Dem and GOP categories.

[madamesilverspurs]

29. Can't - and shouldn't - forget Pat Buchannon.

With his constant presence in mainstream media, his racism gets a megaphone. I always wonder what the payoff is for MSNBC in keeping him part of their team, they're certainly not ignorant about his views...


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[cherokeeprogressive]

34. Politicians.

[JI7]

35. Tancredo , Jan Brewer, Palin are a lot worse than most on there, McCain doesn't belong on the list