Straw men in Mississippi politics used to be only blacks. Now it's also the browns, Hispanics. Both handy tools for demagoguery.
Many Democrats in Mississippi's era of one-party politics were elected by hitting the "n-word" harder than their opponent. But Democratic pols dropped race after the 1965 Voting Rights Act gave blacks access to the ballot box.
Republicans, of course, were not dumb. They saw race still a useful tactic, if done subtly to inflame emotions of Southern white voters. When Ronald Reagan spoke of "welfare queens," whites got the message.
The message: "I'm like you" and "They aren't"
When Barbour entered the governor's race in 2003, he didn't forget some of the old tricks. Barbour played the race card, donning in his lapel a miniature state flag with its Confederacy stars and bars while attacking Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove for trying to change it. The flag gambit, most analysts agreed, turned some 50,000 voters and assured Barbour's win.
Now in 2007, the black race card for the moment has been replaced with a brown race card, namely undocumented Hispanic immigrants.
The "Keep the Flag, Change the Governor" people seemed to be at a lot of Barbour's rallies. I've always wondered what coordination they did.
State Auditor Phil Bryant, who won the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor against state Sen. Charlie Ross on Aug. 7, has pushed the immigrant "issue" as his prime plank. His questionable "study" shows illegal Latinos cost the state $25 million in education and health services.
But notably, Bryant's study was heavily based on input of the Federation for Immigration Reform created by several white supremacy groups, among them the Council for Conservative Citizens, successor to the old White Citizens Councils.
I don't think Bryant is personally racist; for the record.
Black or brown, racial politics that rekindle voter fears have no place in Mississippi. What we need to worry about is the recent statistic showing we have the nation's highest percent age of population living below the poverty line.
Real issues like lowering the cost of living (grocery tax cut) should dominate the discussion, not those intended only to inflame.
Bill Minor's Full Article
After being at the Eaves endorsement in Laurel today, I would say Eaves is the racist, according to hispanics. The hispanic took Eaves's thunder right out of the air and Eaves had no answer for him or any of the questions asked. If it wasnt for the mayor, Eaves would of turned off more than me in that room. It turned out to be more of a burden for Eaves in Laurel than a blessing, so to speak. Talk about an awkward for the poor man. If Eaves wants to come out alive from the debate, he better start learning how to answer the questions instead of using God as an excuse for not knowing.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he makes a jab at Hosemann for making a mild claim about not allowing non-citizens to vote, but does not acknowledge Eaves' more serious injection of nativism into the governor's race, is depressing.
ReplyDeleteI'd bet that Eaves and Barbour have similar views on immigration, though Eaves' support for punishing employers and not immigrants is the more progressive of the two.
ReplyDeletetom,
ReplyDeleteThe candidates in the race for Governor do have a chance at effecting immigration law and policy, while a candidate for Secretary of State does not.
He raised an issue that doesn't exist to frighten people while those at the top of the ticket actually are talking about real issues with immigration and are in a position to actually do something about it.
There is quite a difference. That you can't see that "is depressing."