Congressman Ron Paul. (R-TX)
There has been a lot of speculation over whether or not Ron Paul is a racist.
Many years ago Ron Paul received a $500 donation from the leader of Stormfront, a racist, white nationalist organization. Ron Paul publicly refused to return the money, and many people saw the fact that he kept it as proof positive that he is indeed a racist.
But is a donation from one person enough to indict him for racism? Honestly, no, probably not. That alone is not enough to indict him for racism. But if you pair that up with 10 quotes directly from Ron Paul that make him sound incredibly racist, it’s hard to believe otherwise. Read the quotes for yourself, and see if you believe Ron Paul is a racist.
1. ”We don’t think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That’s true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such.”
2. “What else do we need to know about the political establishment than that it refuses to discuss the crimes that terrify Americans on grounds that doing so is racist? Why isn’t that true of complex embezzling, which is 100 percent white and Asian?”
3. ”Six-hundred-thousand Americans died in the senseless Civil War. No, he should not have gone to war. He did this just to enhance and get rid of the original tenet of the Republic.” -Regarding the Civil War
4. ”Given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal. These aren’t my figures, that is the assumption you can gather from” the report.”
5. “Contrary to the claims of the supporters of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the sponsors of H.Res. 676, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not improve race relations or enhance freedom. Instead, the forced integration dictated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty.” -On the 40th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act
6. “The Criminals who terrorize our cities – in riots and on every non-riot day – are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are.”
7. “I wouldn’t vote against getting rid of the Jim Crow laws.” -When asked if he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act.
8. “Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action.”
9. “Immigrants can spread diseases for which we may have no immunity. There is also the question of crime and culture. Many immigrants come from countries with different legal structures and are not willing to behave in the way we expect American citizens to behave.”
10. “There is no such thing as a hate crime.”
Racist? Meh, maybe. Dumbass? Undoubtedly.
#6 is technically true, but only because urban neighborhoods tend to be disproportionally black. Why? Sundown towns.
See, racism didn’t just rear its ugly head in the South–in the north, a lot of suburbs created local laws stating that black and Asian people were not allowed to remain in town after sundown. Combine that with the lynching of “uppity” blacks in the South, and you have a high concentration of blacks in urban areas, simply because there were few other places for them to go until the Civil Rights Act got rid of Jim Crow and the last remaining “sundown laws.”
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done by that point–too many blacks had been systematically impoverished to the point that they could not afford to leave the slums, and affirmative action couldn’t help them all.
So yes, there are a lot of impoverished black people in our cities, and yes, a lot of them turn to crime in desperation. But that’s because they are poor, not because they are black–and most of them got poor because of racism rather than a lack of “merit.”
So basically, #6 is an example of how racism begets more racism.
There are two novels which can change a bookish 14-year-old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other involves orks.
Paul is a crypto-racist, but #7 is the exact opposite of racist. Reading comprehension fail.
Ron Paul Racists – Conservatives that think being racist is a good political strategy.
Matthew Desmond, you missed the most important quote.
“It is precisely this collectivist mindset that is at the heart of racism.”
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul381.html
Libertarians aren’t capable of racism? WTF?
Libertarians like to see themselves as flawless angels coming straight from the rectum of Jesus Christ.
In what way is #9 racist?
to show you how this is racist I will break it down for you.
9. “Immigrants can spread diseases for which we may have no immunity.” factually accurate, however that is why we have the centers for disease control, along with those odd fellows who have M.D. at the end of their names, and usually Dr. in front.
“There is also the question of crime and culture. Many immigrants come from countries with different legal structures and are not willing to behave in the way we expect American citizens to behave.” ok HOW IS THIS NOT RACIST? these facts have been twisted to fit Ron Pauls dogma. sorry My sister-in-law is Russian. she is attempting to gain U.S. citizenship. that means, to those who don’t get it, that she has some IDEA of what our laws are; after all she has LIVED in this country for approximately 8 years(a requirement of gaining citizenship i do believe), if not longer.
our founding creed has long been seen as this line from the new colossus,
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
now, to quote lethal weapon 4 the creed is “no vacancy”
so no of course quote 9 is obviously not racist(insert sarcasm here^)
nationality =/= race, that’s how it isn’t racist. It’s mildly bigoted against a hypothetical nationality, but not racist.
But, you’re being kind of bigoted in that you assume all immigrants are your sister-in-law. He used the qualifier “many”, which is a vague enough quantifier that it can conceivably be applied with a measure of truth; as a small example, there are countries where substances are legal which are not legal here. A person addicted to such a substance would likely desire to continue use of such a substance, despite the illegality of it here. Strictly speaking, this person would be “not willing to behave in the way we expect American citizens to behave”, where “the way we expect American citizens to behave” is defined as the laws that govern our society. Whether or not all American citizens actually follow the code of conduct that is our laws is irrelevant; The code of conduct still exists, and measures are taken to enforce compliance.
Excellent response dirk jenkum–That quote is directed to immigrants who come to our country and don’t think they have to follow our rules to our expectations, put this country first.
Nationality not being equivalent to race doesn’t alter the point. Racism is a type of prejudice; Moreover it is no better or worse to have a prejudice against Germans ( nationality ) than Germanic people ( race ). So being prejudiced about someones nationality or about their race doesn’t really matter; it’s still bad. Also, scientifically there is no such thing as race http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_%28classification_of_humans%29.
When someone says “Many” and attributes properties to these people, he has made conclusions about them. The fact that it is a vague number doesn’t change this one bit. If he believes “Many immigrants come from countries with different legal structures and are not willing to behave in the way we expect American citizens to behave.” this is a prejudice; in fact all immigrants come from countries with different legal structures, America is unique in this regard. But more disturbing is the fact that he mentions immigrants spreading disease in association with this idea. What is the unstated premise here?
He’s presenting an opinion that he will probably use in his decision making. Decisions made on the basis of such prejudices will be harmful to the nation.
When you consider that most of the immigrants currently entering this country are from Latin America and the Caribbean islans (i.e., brown people), yes, it is VERY racist. Ron Paul is deliberately implying “Brown people are incapable of acting like us or learning English.”
Remember, this is the genius who thinks Berlin Wall 2 across the Mexican border would work. Walls don’t keep desperate people in OR out, but when you hate Mexicans, that doesn’t matter as much to you.
Why are the Neocons acting like guilty criminals?
This debate is excellent, but compared to the US war mongering and world economic collapse, it seems all races are sinking in the same boat. Our country and the world has larger problems. End the wars!! We need Ron for 4 years to get us on the right financial track, then we can elect someone more suited for the problems that will stand out once this oncoming disaster clears. We’re not going to find the perfect candidate for the people…we thought we had that with Obama and the problems have compounded with him…more spending, more wars (Africa next), indefinite detention of US citizens without trial. He’s a puppet for the Bilderberg group. Think in big picture terms and move away from this small stuff. Race has been used to divide the people for too long. There are many children and grandchildren from mixed race relationships and the internet has helped the world to move forward. Babyboomers…you did a good job fighting for civil liberties back in your day…hand the torch over to your children and grandchildren…We’re fighting for our future now!