Wanna Know Who Made Racism ''Acceptable Again'' in the good ol' USA?

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197. Hey! That's EXACTLY what my Republican neighbor said!

10 Real Facts About Ronald Reagan That Republicans Never Choose to Admit

By Matthew Rozsa
MIC.com, March 14, 2014

Is this hero worship justified? Here are ten facts about Ronald Reagan that many in the GOP have awkwardly forgotten:

1. Reagan fought against civil rights for African Americans.

Via: Wikimedia
MLK Jr. during a press conference in 1964.

Reagan's transformation from actor to serious political figure began in the 1960s, first with a nationally televised speech on behalf of presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and then with his election as governor of California. This was also the decade in which the civil rights bills that ended legalized racism were passed ... and Reagan was on record opposing all of them, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

Reagan continued this pattern as president by gutting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), fighting the extension of the Voting Rights Act, vetoing the Civil Rights Restoration Act (which required all recipients of federal funds to comply with civil rights laws) and initially opposing the creation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (he changed his tune when it passed Congress with a veto-proof majority).

2. Reagan vetoed an anti-apartheid bill.

Via: Flickr
Nelson Mandela.

Reagan further tarnished his record on racial equality when he vetoed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which imposed economic sanctions on South Africa that could only be lifted when that country abolished apartheid. Although Reagan argued this was because he worried the sanctions would prompt the South African government to respond with "more violence and more repression," critics pointed to his administration's close relationship with the apartheid regime, well-known belief that anti-apartheid groups like the African National Congress were Communistic, oversight of the decision to label Nelson Mandela as a terrorist and weakening of a UN resolution condemning apartheid.

Considering that the bill was supported by an overwhelming majority of South African apartheid opponents (including Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu), his professed reason was widely met with skepticism. Fortunately, Congress overrode his veto.

3. Reagan supported the exploitation of Mexican-American farm workers.

Via: Wikimedia
Cesar Chavez in 1973 visiting Colegio Cesar Chavez, the first four-year Mexican-American college in the United States.

One of the biggest contributors to Reagan's successful gubernatorial campaigns was California's wealthy "agro-business" industry. As such, it was not surprising that the newly-elected governor sided with his political benefactors over Cesar Chavez, who led the movement to end the underpayment and inhumane working conditions endured by over a million Mexican-American farm workers.

Of course, if one wishes to take Reagan at his word, you're left to believe that he supported the use of "stoop laborers" not because his rich buddies profited from this system, but because Mexicans were suitable for that lifestyle due to being "built close to the ground."

CONTINUED...

http://mic.com/articles/85379/10-real-facts-about-ronald-reagan-that-republicans-never-choose-to-admit

The rest of the article does a nice job, too, of showing how much America changed after Reagan for the worse. You may be too young to remember, but I remember.