The other day I recited a handful of recent examples of Republican lawmakers offering disturbing and offensive remarks about racial and religious minorities. Today I found another example that may be even worse than the others.
Haley Barbour, the former national chairman of the Republican National Committee, is the Republican nominee for governor of Mississippi, which holds its election in just three weeks.
The state, despite having an African American population over 36%, has had its share of racial difficulties over the years. In fact, that’s an understatement — Mississippi has been home to some of the most intensely divisive racial problems in America.
Barbour, who is white, appears to be doing everything possible to exacerbate the divisions in his state. As part of his gubernatorial campaign, Barbour has railed against affirmative action and what he calls “quotas.” Moreover, he has endorsed the state using its 1894 flag, despite the opposition of Mississippi’s African American population.
Far worse, he’s also been hanging out with the Council of Conservative Citizens.
Daily Kos has a picture of Barbour hanging out with CCC members at the Black Hawk Barbecue and Political Rally in July, which the CCC helped co-sponsor.
What’s the big deal? Well, the Council of Conservative Citizens is a transparently racist organization that grew out of the “White Citizens Councils” of the old, strictly segregated, South.
As Kos explained, the CCC’s website (which I will not link to) includes some helpful summaries of the group’s beliefs. For example, the group boasts that it “speaks out” on behalf of “white European-Americans, their civilization, faith and form of government.” The CCC dismisses the very notion of racism, arguing that the word “was concocted by a communist ideologues in the 1920s…to instill guilt and shame in the minds of white people and to inflame racial hostility among blacks.”
The CCC adds that “the word racism has no meaning unless whites react to it.”
This is the kind of group that Barbour is reaching out to for political support in Mississippi.
Chances are, no one would have heard anything about Barbour’s meeting with CCC members at the Black Hawk Rally in July except the group posted a picture of the meeting on the homepage of their website.
Once this came to public attention, Barbour said he didn’t know anything about the CCC when he met with them. Considering the group’s highly-controversial and long-standing role in the state, you’ll forgive me if I find Barbour’s explanation impossible to believe.
There is no excuse for this. Obviously gubernatorial candidates want to win over voters. I can appreciate that. But Barbour’s outreach to an obviously racist organization demonstrates that Republicans have not learned the lessons of divisive racial politics. Barbour, like too many others, will court, pander, and sweet-talk known segregationists for political gain.
Barbour claims now that he wasn’t familiar with the CCC and he’s been trying to gain support from the state’s African Americans throughout his campaign.
OK, Haley, I’m calling your bluff. Tired of racial politics? Anxious to show that the GOP has a new-found disgust for racism? Then prove it. Denounce the CCC publicly and insist that you don’t want the political support of any racist for your campaign.
If Barbour were sincere about wanting a “colorblind” Mississippi, this would be an easy and powerful first step.