The Republican Party: Fertile Ground for Racism

The Republican Party is extremely fertile ground for racists. I am not saying all, or even most, Republicans are racists. But their extreme passion, based on gut feelings and opposed to all facts and reason, is exactly the mental framework in which racism thrives. Most Republicans are not racists, but nearly all racists are Republicans. When a racist Republican creates publicity, the Republican Party is quick to distance itself, but I am not sure whether this is sincere or is merely an attempt to avoid notice. And, as the presidency of Donald Trump has shown, the Republican Party welcomes the support of racists even while disavowing them.

One recent example was a Republican candidate for the House of Representatives from Tennessee. Candidate Rick Tyler’s slogan was Make America White Again, and his campaign website was www.makeamericawhiteagain.info. His big billboards were featured in a 2016 news channel article. I presume that he lost the election, probably even the primary, because his website is no longer up.

It is particularly puzzling that this candidate emerged from Polk County, Tennessee, which is in the very heart of the homeland of the Cherokee Tribe. The candidate owns or owned a restaurant in Ocoee, very close to the birthplace of my sixth-great-grandmother Nancy Ward, one of the most important leaders in Cherokee history. If anyone should know that America has never been all-white, it should be people from Polk County, Tennessee! But this line of reasoning is lost on people like Tyler and to a lesser extent on Republicans in general, because they specifically reject evidence and reasoning.

And racists use the Christian religion specifically to promote their agenda. Notice the billboard in the article link; it shows people praying.