The New Liberal Racism

E.W. Jackson Sr.:

Last week we witnessed repeated efforts by Democrats to polarize the country along racial lines. Eric Holder, speaking at Al Sharpton’s conference, implied that he and the President are being treated harshly because they are black. Then Nancy Pelosi claimed that Republicans are refusing to support an immigration bill because they don’t like Hispanics. She actually said, “I’ve heard them [Republicans] say to the Irish, if this were just you, it would be easy.” The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair, Rep. Steve Israel, was asked on CNN whether his Republican colleagues are racist. He answered, “Not all of them, no…But to a significant extent the Republican base does have elements that are animated by racism, and that’s unfortunate.”

This is more than election year politics. It is worse than a crass attempt to manipulate black voters with fear of Republicans. It is the insidious new racism of liberal elites who masquerade as champions of racial justice. The old racism is obvious and unacceptable. However, the new liberal racism is camouflaged as a cure when it is in fact a far more deadly strain of the disease. It is time to expose and denounce it.

The Republican base that Steve Israel says is animated by racism, nominated me — an American of African descent and a great grandson of slaves — for Lt. Governor of Virginia. They embraced me warmly, treated me respectfully and supported me enthusiastically. The liberal media on the other hand set out to destroy me. My white Democrat opponent was even caught on camera refusing to shake my hand. The new racism is very different in style from the old, but the same in substance. The old racists liked blacks who knew their place and stayed in it. The new racists behave exactly the same, but define our “place” as the Democrat liberal camp.

When I won the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor of Virginia, the Washington Post and the Richmond Times Dispatch dedicated themselves to discrediting me. As a child, I lived in a foster home which had no indoor bathroom. Liberal reporters said that since they could not prove there was no indoor bathroom, I must have lied. I served as a Chaplain for the Boston Red Sox, but they said I must have made up that story because nearly twenty-five years later the Red Sox had no record of it. The press was not interested in Benghazi or the IRS scandal, but they combed through the minutiae of my life looking for something to diminish my achievements.

Today’s liberal elites are the new virulent racists. When you agree with them, they honor you as an African-American. When you contradict their orthodoxy, they abuse you like a dog. Even liberal Juan Williams felt their wrath when he went off message.

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