rinse, repeat.....Racism as Strategy.....

[kpete]

Nixon's Southern Strategy to win the KKK's descendants to the GOP's cause.

You start out in 1954 by saying, "n*gg*r, n*gg*r, n*gg*r, " By 1968 you can't say "n*gg*r" — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now (that) you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is (that) blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "n*gg*r, n*gg*r."

- Lee Atwater
http://www.thenation.com/article/170841/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy#

[ananda]

1. Well, I hope this isn't news to that many people.

..

[Solly Mack]

2. Never hurts to be reminded.

K&R

[BainsBane]

3. Funny how Atwater comes up again

Whereas I have twice seen him invoked over the past 12 hours to discredit a long-term African American member talking about the concerns of his community, as though he--a black man--is responsible for racism.

[boston bean]

4. Only twice??

[BainsBane]

5. So far, though I can't claim to read everything

Especially since I have good chunks of the site in the trash.

[boston bean]

6. LOL

[ismnotwasm]

7. So Atwater is basically saying

"Bury racism in economic concerns"

[BainsBane]

8. Or is it that

black folks and their allies who want to see candidates address communities of color are "race-baiting"?

[sheshe2]

19. I have seen it called race baiting, hmmmm

let me think when?! Oh wait it was just last night in the AfAm group.

[Iliyah]

26. I was calm and fair.

First problem, because I supported other than the DU's favorite, was called "sick and delusional". Fine, I moved on. But now - a person who murdered a young man compared us to him because we do not nor support their candidate was the last straw.

Slap in the face.

[BainsBane]

27. I saw that.

Incredible.

[Starry Messenger]

30. I saw that too. :(

[Cha]

9. Yes, Lee Atwater was an ugly racist.. Thanks for pointing it out, kpete.. Because there was a

creepy meme around here comparing a beloved African American member to lee Atwater tactics and this just proves how creepy it was.

[bettyellen]

10. What is the point of this OP- to warn us not to discuss race?

[BainsBane]

11. It would be nice if the OP would tell us the point.

Somehow I don't think it's a history lesson.

[kpete]

18. just

a reminder
to myself
parked here
for anyone looking for pieces to the puzzle


peace,
kp

[BainsBane]

20. Pieces of the puzzle?

that fit with other pieces put in place by the person who accused a long-term DUer, an African American, of engaging in Atwater tactics for expressing concern about whether a candidate addressed the concerns of his community? Am I understanding correctly that you believe African Americans are engaging in the equivalent of a Southern strategy by daring to speak about their interests in relation to the election?

You need to be forthcoming here. You are evading the point, and it looks very bad. Treating black people as oppressors is something the far right does. I hope I am wrong. So please, spell out what you are doing here quite plainly. Help me to understand what you mean to say.

Here are related posts. How does your post fit with these other pieces of the puzzle?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1187&pid=16797


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=419209

[kpete]

21. i have no idea what you are talking about

none
nada


did not visit those posts

peace,
kp

[BainsBane]

22. How did you suddenly happen to think of Lee Atwater?

Who has been dead for many years now?

[kpete]

24. same as i often think of

lynn cheney
and she is still alive

i lived those days
i guess i am showing my age around here

better go to bed


peace,
kp

[Cha]

12. Aloha bettyellen.. I would not think that of kpete.. that would awful.

[bettyellen]

15. I didn't even read who wrote the OP - but it's leaving me confused!

[Cha]

16. I know.. I wish she would clarify.. because of all the disingenuous atwater crap going on Yesterday.

[kpete]

23. Cha

no offense meant to anyone, please

nothing to clarify, and happy to self-delete, just say the word

i have no idea about any of the "crap going on Yesterday"

again, sorry if i stepped into a pile,
i should have checked my shoes

i posted the atwater piece to remind myself that this has been going on for most of my lifetime, i am 63, i am tired of intolerance, sick and tired of it.

thanks for listening Cha,
peace,
kp

[Cha]

25. I thought that might be it, kpete! No, please don't self delete.. it is a reminder what an ugly

racist Atwater was and how mean spirited it was to compare our sweet poster to him.

Peace

[napkinz]

13. Exclusive: Lee Atwater’s Infamous 1981 Interview on the Southern Strategy

It has become, for liberals and leftists enraged by the way Republicans never suffer the consequences for turning electoral politics into a cesspool, a kind of smoking gun. The late, legendarily brutal campaign consultant Lee Atwater explains how Republicans can win the vote of racists without sounding racist themselves:

read more: http://www.thenation.com/article/170841/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy#


Lee Atwater and The Willy Horton ad in 1988

July 22, 2011

Ailes Helped Craft Strategy Of Linking Dukakis To Horton. Ailes also worked on George H.W. Bush's 1988 presidential campaign and helped craft the "soft on crime" strategy of linking Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis to convicted felon Willie Horton. The chief architect of that strategy, Lee Atwater, later apologized to Dukakis for saying he would "make Willie Horton his running mate," explaining that the comment "makes me sound racist, which I am not." As the campaign drew to a close, the New York Times quoted Ailes saying of the strategy: "The only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it." (New York Times, 10/3/88)

read more: http://mediamatters.org/research/2011/07/22/the-sordid-history-of-news-corps-roger-ailes/157744

this man was despicable!

[Cha]

14. Yes, he was "Despicable", napkinz..

[GeorgeGist]

17. Gotta keep the racists voting R.

Somethings never change.

[daredtowork]

28. I hope this at last puts a fork in the "Social is separate" crowd

Or the even more ludicrous Hillary campaign concept that Bernie is actually racist if he dares connect economic issues to race.

For the last month around here, Social! Social! Social! has been like Marsha! Marsha! Marsha! on the Brady Bunch. A few purveyors of high academic race theory have held teeny tiny scalpels up like Excalibur and insisted that if even a penny comes into the discussion, their candidate cannot possibly "get" #BlackLivesMatter.

Things don't always have to be either/or. They can be both/and. The Atwater speech shows how there can be BOTH a race dimension and an economic dimension in effecting a *strategy* of racial injustice.

Kpete, I know you choose Hillary as your candidate to deal with these injustices, and since I haven't seen you resort to the the Social hair-splitting strategy I don't mean to attribute that to you in particular.

I choose Bernie as my candidate to deal with BOTH the racial and economic dimensions.

IMHO, though, there could have been better candidates than either of them. The paucity of this Primary field was a Democratic party fail.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. Demographics have defeated the Southern Strategy, thank God!

Politics of caucasian resentment
RIP