Racial rhetoric heating up? It must be an election year. Pt. V

It seems to me that in many parts of the South, the racism is seasoned to perfection.

This would explain to me why a new, attacking Harold Ford Jr. has appeared in Tennessee. The ad, sponsored by the Republican National Committee, features a montage of supposed “everyday” people, citing their displeasure with Harold Ford’s past votes. But, then, there’s a person in there who is not making any reference to Ford’s legislative record.

The ad, entitled “Call Me”, also features a scantily clad, blond white woman who says she met ford at a “playboy party”. At the end, she does here best bimbo look and says, “call me”, as if she’s talking to Ford.

This ad hearkens back to the old miscegenation fears of black men having sex with white women. So, the RNC is, once again, using the politics of race to hold on to a Senate seat. This is especially disturbing because Ford would be the first black senator in Tennessee’s history since Reconstruction. Also, we need to remember that Tennessee is the state in which the Ku Klux Klan was born so, I believe that playing to irrational racial fears is a tactic, not an accident.

It’s not just me who sees this ad as racist. Former Republican Senator and Defense Secretary William said the ad is a “very serious appeal to a racist sentiment”.

Ford’s opponent, Bob Corker, has called for the ad to be pulled but, only because he says it is “tacky” and ignored the racial overtones of this ad.

Once again, the GOP has shown a willingness to use racism to get supporters to the polls. How do they honestly expect to woo black voters when they keep pulling this nonsense?

Popularity: 6% [?]

Sphere: Related Content

comments

1 comment for “Racial rhetoric heating up? It must be an election year. Pt. V”

black…MYstory » File this under “Duh!” , on the 3 of November, 2006 at 3:37 pm said:
[...] For example, take the following headline: Poll: GOP success with black voters in doubt. They actually took a poll to tell them that the Republican Party is not loved by black folks, in general. They could have paid me half of what they paid the polling company and I could have given them this news. Now, it’s not like we have some great love for Democrats but, at least when the campaigns heat up, they, generally, don’t call in the most base of racist fear to drive people to the polls, like the anti-Harold Ford ads in Tennessee or the anti-Deval Patrick ad in Massachussets. [...]

NOTE: Comments on this blog are not always moderated so, they may appear as soon as you post them, unless filtered as spam. Despite this, we reserve the right to delete any comments considered offensive. Please take this into consideration as you post comments.

black…MYstory » File this under “Duh!” , on the 3 of November, 2006 at 3:37 pm said:

[...] For example, take the following headline: Poll: GOP success with black voters in doubt. They actually took a poll to tell them that the Republican Party is not loved by black folks, in general. They could have paid me half of what they paid the polling company and I could have given them this news. Now, it’s not like we have some great love for Democrats but, at least when the campaigns heat up, they, generally, don’t call in the most base of racist fear to drive people to the polls, like the anti-Harold Ford ads in Tennessee or the anti-Deval Patrick ad in Massachussets. [...]