George Allen's Race Pattern
| George Allen |
Rolling Stone
is calling this \”the first YouTube election\”. I covered it today on
my radio show. But it's important to note that George Allen's race problems
didn't start with his most recent slur.
But, while Allen may have genuflected in the direction of Gingrich, he also
showed a touch of Strom Thurmond. Campaigning for governor in 1993, he admitted
to prominently displaying a Confederate flag in his living room. He said it
was part of a flag collection–and had been removed at the start of his gubernatorial
bid. When it was learned that he kept a noose hanging on a ficus tree in his
law office, he said it was part of a Western memorabilia collection. These
explanations may be sincere. But, as a chief executive, he also compiled a
controversial record on race. In 1994, he said he would accept an honorary
membership at a Richmond social club with a well-known history of discrimination–an
invitation that the three previous governors had refused. After an outcry,
Allen rejected the offer. He replaced the only black member of the University
of Virginia (UVA) Board of Visitors with a white one. He issued a proclamation
drafted by the Sons of Confederate Veterans declaring April Confederate History
and Heritage Month. The text celebrated Dixie's \”four-year struggle for
independence and sovereign rights.\” There was no mention of slavery.
After some of the early flaps, a headline in The Washington Post read, \”governor
seen leading va. back in time.\”George
Allen's Race Problem, by Ryan Lizza
Oh, you don't like \”race problems\”? Should I say insensitivities
instead? Or how about just dumb as dirt ignorance, is that better?
Sorry, I was raised in Missouri, a part of this country where the KKK began, so
things like this call for the proper context. It's racist.
Joel
Achenblog has it right. Allen needs to spend less time in the U.S. Senate,
and more time in, well, Virginia. We are now a multicultural nation, Mr. Allen.
Wake up and behold your own back yard.
I hate to turn Allen's latest racial slur into a campaign call, but former Reagan Navy Secretary
Jim Webb is running against George Allen. Jim
Webb is the better man. He deserves our support.
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