Republicans and race

RNC Chair Ken Mehlman's recent statement that his party was "wrong" to exploit racial tension to win votes is an incredible affront to all those concerned about race relations in America. This guy wouldn't even have a job if Republicans hadn't used race to bludgeon Democrats throughout the South.

There are certainly other issues that have hurt the Democratic Party in Dixie – gun control and abortion rights, to name a few – but none has been more devastating than its efforts to accord African-Americans the same rights as everyone else in America. Sadly, Republicans continue to exploit racial tension to this day.

President Bush, who spoke at the notoriously bigoted Bob Jones University while campaigning for president, has opposed affirmative action even as numerous top-ranking former military officials have said that its preservation is a matter of national security. And just two years ago, Haley Barbour won his race for Mississippi governor by sending coded messages about where he stands on race relations.

If Jesse Helms, Lee Atwater, Haley Barbour, and so many of Mehlman's other forebears in the Republican Party hadn't exploited racial tension, the world would be quite a different place....