THE RACISM OF RONALD REAGAN - LETS TALK ABOUT IT

 

Recently I heard a telephone conversation between Ronald Reagan and president Nixon. Reagan was heard to say "To watch that thing on television, as I did, to see those, those monkeys from those African countries – damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Nixon erupts in laughter. They were discussing the Tanzanian delegation’s reaction to a vote in the UN, after which the delegates danced in celebration. I believe that the year was 1971. Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, who I have never been very fond of, said the following about her dad. "There is no defense, no rationalization, no suitable explanation, for what my father said on that taped phone conversation". In this case I agree with her 100 %. Reagan's presidency converted me from a moderate Democrat to a hardcore Conservative. In my estimation, until Donald Trump came along, he was the greatest president during my lifetime. I didn't think there would ever be another Reagan. Hearing Reagan say those words were very disappointing to me. Yet it hasn't changed my perspective on the success and legacy of his presidency.I have read many biographies of Ronald Reagan and there was no evidence that he was a racist until I heard those words. Yet there is no real evidence that if he was a racist that he ever discriminated against someone because of their race, or that he regularly used used the N word, or told racial jokes.

The Communists have called Republicans and Conservatives racists for so long I generally roll my eyes when I hear that charge. For example I was reading an article about Reagan's monkeys comment and the author was trying to call Trump a racist because he mentioned Baltimore's squalid conditions, called certain countries shithole countries and of course his comments about Charlottesville. I do not consider these comments racist or on the same level with what Reagan said. The media has always lied about what Trump said about Charlottesville. I heard his comments on Charlottesville and the press lied and continues to lie to this day. All he said was that there were good people there protesting on both sides of the issue. There were good people who wanted the Robert E. Lee statue removed and those who didn't. The alt- right or Neo Nazi's who were there have always been associated by those on the left as right wing groups. The Neo Nazis, and alt right views are left wing, not right wing. They are national socialists. Baltimore is a crappy place and I have been to a shithole country. In the case of Baltimore and other crappy cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Washington DC, it is not about race but years of Democrat rule. Shithole countries are run by corrupt leaders. If we don't get rid of our corrupt leaders, America will soon be a shithole country. Certain blue states already are shithole states and their citizens are leaving them in droves. The Communists have been trying to redefine the word racism for years but we shouldn't let them get away with it. I agree with the Merriam-Webster definition of racism.  A belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Racism is not having a philosophical disagreement with Obama just because he happens to have black skin.

Lets look at the racism of those white leaders in American history who have done the most to advance the cause of civil rights over the years. Abraham Lincoln, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon Johnson. Abraham Lincoln was staunchly against the institution of slavery but there is no evidence to show that he ever considered a black man his equal. By todays standards he said some pretty horrible things about black people during the Lincoln-Douglas debates in the 1850's. Although Lincoln was against slavery, as a pragmatic politician he was willing to allow it to exist in those states that already had slavery in order to prevent the break-up of the Union. Lincoln was a believer in the Constitution and he knew that Constitution legalized slavery. As a lawyer Lincoln could make a sound argument that the Federal government had to power to limit the spread of slavery into the new territories. This was the rub. Democrats in the Southern states on the other hand believed that they had the right to spread slavery into the territories while Lincoln and the Republican party believed that they didn't. This difference of opinion would result in the Civil War.

Lincoln adjusted to the changing environment created by the war. By the summer of 1862 he was ready to sign an executive order freeing those slaves that were still under Democrat rule in the Southern states. This of course was called the Emancipation Proclamation, which in my view revealed the political brilliance of Lincoln. It was designed to rob the Democrat South of it's labor force and put it to work assisting the Northern war effort. It would put pressure on Southern soldiers to desert in order to take care of their farms and families deserted by their enslaved labor force. Public pressure from the common people in Europe would encourage the aristocratic governments in England and France to remain neutral and refrain from openly supporting the Democrat South. Or intervening militarily on the side of the South. One of his greatest accomplishments as president was securing the passage of the 13th Amendment freeing the slaves at the end of the war. Besides the fact that Lincoln was able to evolve from a president whose main goal was preserving the Union to ultimately freeing the slaves, he evolved on a personal level also. Maybe it was because of his close association with Frederick Douglas throughout the war but by the end of the war he was willing to grant the right to vote to black soldiers who had fought for the Union and well educated blacks. By todays standards this would still be considered racist but by the standards of 1865 it was a very progressive attitude. So progressive in fact that it would lead to Lincoln's assassination by the racist Democrat John Wilkes Booth who had heard him say this in the last speech he ever gave from the balcony of the White House.

The second president that historians give credit to for advancing the cause of civil rights in American history is Harry S. Truman. Although I strongly disagreed with Truman's New Deal policies and his push for national health insurance Truman is one of the very few Democrats that I like and respect. One of the reasons that I like Truman is that he was a man from common stock. He wasn't an elitist. That is the main reason that I named my blog Reflections Of An Uncommon Common Man. I wear the fact that I am a common man as a badge of honor. I got the idea for the title of my blog from Truman. He was an uncommon common man. Truman only had a high school education but was self educated. He had a knowledge of history that would rival that of any college professor. Like myself, Truman knew what it was to struggle economically for much of his life and what it was like to do hard physical labor. He was a farmer and an unsuccessful businessman before he became a county judge, a senator, and eventually the president of the United States. Truman was an honest man who married his childhood sweetheart and was a great husband and father. My problem with modern elitists like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore Jr., John Kerry, and to be fair many Republican elitists is they have never had a real job. Bill Clinton came from common stock like Truman. He took the last name Clinton from a man that his mother was married to at the time he was born but as far as I can tell he doesn't know who his real father was. Although he came from common stock I can't find evidence that he ever had a real job before he was elected to public office. I can't find evidence that he ever delivered newspapers or took a summer job in his youth. Somehow he always seemed to have more than enough money to sustain himself. Obama, Hillary and Kerry never knew hard physical work. Personally I don't want people who have never had a real job running the country or our economy.

As much as I like Truman and his accomplishments as president he was a bigot. Like many white people of the period he was a product of his upbringing. There is a debate among historians whether or not in his youth he joined the Ku Klux Klan. Some say that he did and others say that he didn't. Truman was known to use the N word throughout his life. He had an admirable quality in that he hated injustice. As a combat veteran he hated the fact that many black WW2 veterans served their country only to return home to face racism and mistreatment in their country after the war. He went to bat for them which alienated him from his Democrat colleagues in the Senate. As president in 1948 he signed an executive order desegregating the military. He supported the Democrat party's civil rights platform in 1948 which led to the creation of the Dixiecrat party led by fellow Democrat Strom Thurmond. Although Truman could rightfully be called a racist he tried to follow his conscience in most things.

Lyndon Baines Johnson is the 3rd president given a lot of credit in the arena of civil rights. Personally, I think history proves him to be more of a political opportunist than a sincere believer in the cause of civil rights. Johnson, according to the people who really knew him, said the n word every 5 minutes. I can recall no point in his life that he experienced some great epiphany or had a road to Damascus experience on race. For many years he was a segregationist and supported it. Johnson was very ambitious and from a young age obsessed about becoming president. His plan for achieving that goal was to become a congressman first. Then go on to master the House of Representatives. He did this by befriending fellow Texan and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. Then his plan was to be elected to the Senate and eventually becoming master of the Senate. Which he did after befriending the majority leader Richard Russell who was a very powerful Southern senator from Georgia. Both Rayburn and Russell were confirmed bachelors. LBJ, his wife Lady Bird, and their two daughters became an extended family to these men and they grew very close. The senate would then be the platform for Johnson to be catapulted into the White House.

In 1948, based on a stolen election, he was able to win a Senate seat in Texas. In the solid Democrat South of 1948 whoever won a Democrat primary was a shoe in to win the general election. In a hard fought primary Johnson ended up losing by a few votes but he was close enough under Texas law that a run-off election was required. Johnson would ultimately win this primary by 87 votes and after a recount the Texas Democrat Party certified Johnson's election by a 1 vote margin. There were many claims of fraud committed by the Johnson campaign. Robert Caro. Johnson's biographer wrote that "People have been saying for 40 years, 'No one knows what really happened in that election,' and 'Everybody does it.' Neither of those statements is true. I don't think that this is the only election that was ever stolen, but there was never such brazen thievery." Caro said that Johnson was given the votes of "the dead, the halt, the missing and those who were unaware that an election was going on" Johnson was derisively given the name "Landslide Lyndon" after this election. Much in question were the 202 votes that were cast in Precinct 13. Many of the people who supposedly voted in that precinct afterward denied that they had voted. When Johnson was president a friend asked him how he had won that primary election in 1948. Without saying a word Johnson produced a picture of 5 smiling deputies standing next to a patrol car with a ballot box marked precinct 13 balanced on the hood. In 1960 there were only 118,000 votes separating John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Kennedy was able to win that election with the help of the mafia rigging the election in Illinois and Johnson rigging the election in Texas. Like the 2020 presidential election voter fraud produces disastrous consequences.

Johnson's master plan for acquiring the presidency was upended by John Kennedy. Kennedy came out of nowhere and gobbled up most of the eligible convention delegates before Johnson knew what hit him. According to Johnson biographer Robert Caro his behavior during this time was inexplicable. Johnson wanted to be president more than anything in his life but his hesitancy and timidity in the beginning was more in line with someone who didn't want to be president. By the time Johnson got his act together it was too late. Kennedy offered him the vice presidential nomination in an attempt to unite the Eastern establishment wing of the Democrat party with the Southern wing. After Kennedy was elected Johnson found himself in political hell as Vice President with virtually no power or influence. Had Kennedy lived and had he been reelected Robert Kennedy would have more than  likely have been the preferred choice to run as his successor. Johnson's chances of being elected president were slim to none and slim had left town. As fate would have it the assassination of John Kennedy opened a door for Johnson that had appeared to be nailed shut. 

When Johnson formulated his plan to be president so many years ago his knowledge of history taught him that since the Civil War no Southern Democrat was able to be elected president because of the lingering animosity toward the Southern Democrats for causing the Civil War and their treatment of blacks. Woodrow Wilson was the exception because he managed to shake off the Southern Democrat stigma. Being a professor he was considered an intellectual and was a former dean of Princeton University in New Jersey. Wilson was raised in Virginia and as racist as any Southern Democrat. He aired the racist film Birth Of A Nation in the White House which led to the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915. Johnson knew that he had to establish a record on civil rights if he had any chance of attracting Northern voters and winning the presidency. In 1957 he helped push through a watered down civil rights bill and another in 1960. Neither could have been passed without the Republican party. Most Democrats voted against these two bills as well as the more famous 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Acts. Again these latter two bills could not have been passed without the help of the Republican party. I think Johnson's political ambitions as well as the fact that he wanted to outdo his hero Franklin Roosevelt motivated Johnson more than anything else. Johnson also wanted to be loved in the same way Roosevelt had been loved by the American people. He was a political opportunist in the same spirit as George Wallace.

 Wallace was famous for his staunch segregationist stand as the governor of Alabama in the early 1960's. He was a judge in Alabama before he ran for governor against John Patterson in 1958.  A black lawyer named J.L. Chestnut remembered Judge Wallace as "the most liberal judge that I had ever practiced law in front of" In his first gubernatorial campaign Wallace said "During the next four years, many problems will arise in the matter of segregation and civil rights, as a result of judicial decisions. Having served as judge of the third judicial court of Alabama, I feel my friends, that this judicial experience, will be invaluable to me as your governor....and I want to tell the good people of this state, as a judge of the 3rd judicial circuit, if I didn't have what it took to treat a man fair, regardless of his color, then I don't have what it takes to be the governor of your state. After he was defeated by Patterson he told his finance director Seymore Trammell, I was out-niggered and I will never be out- niggered again. 

 Wallace assumed the room in order to fulfill his political ambitions. His constituency was white in the early 1960's. After the 1965 Voting Rights Act his constituency became more diverse. Wallace was paralyzed in an assassination attempt while he was running for president in 1972 at the hands of Arther Bremer. He was reelected governor in 1974 and made one more presidential run in 1976. In the late 1970's he claimed to have accepted Christianity and made his final run for governor in 1982 and won. Wallace began apologizing to his black constituents, touting that he was a born again Christian and wanted to put his racist past behind him. As a Christian I hope that he was sincere but only God can know that. If he could turn from a moderate on race to a staunch segregationist in order to win elections why should I believe his apology to blacks in order to continue winning elections. Many blacks who remember Wallace will testify that he was the best governor that Alabama ever had. The same principle applies to Johnson. He started out as a segregationist but ended up as a champion for segregation and civil rights. At least Wallace can point to a moment of spiritual rebirth and  claim that it was the catalyst for change. Johnson can't do that. When was his epiphany or "Road to Damascus experience"? Where was the change in his behavior when few were looking?

It can be argued with justification that the social welfare policies of Lyndon Johnson were more destructive to the black family than slavery itself. More men lived under the same roof as their children under slavery than live with their children today. More black fathers raised their own children before Johnson's presidency. In 1963 between 85 and 90 percent of black families had a father living at home. It was nearly equal with whites in 1963. Today over 70% of blacks are raised without a father at  home. Even Obama will tell you  that most criminals come from a family where no father is living at home. Whites are now having similar problems because of social welfare programs. About 30% of white homes do not have a male living at home. This is where blacks were in 1966. You can also add to the  mix, that there has  been a breakdown in moral values that is constantly being pushed by the left. They push the so-called separation of church and state in our schools. Sexual promiscuity, grooming children to be homosexual, bi-sexual, transgender, and moral relativists. They have controlled our public schools for at least 100 years. The problem has basically been the takeover of our society by the cultural Marxists.

Democrats have caused great damage to our country throughout history in every area. In economics, their handling of foreign affairs. Their incentivising bad behavior through social welfare programs. In the late 20th and early 21st century they have routinely weakened the military. They weaken it and Republicans have to build it back until a Democrat comes along and weakens it again. Now something even more sinister is happening in our military. In a Stalinist manner they are purging the military of any persons that they think are not on board with leftist indoctrination. In my view the military is being trained to fight their internal enemies rather than an external threat. The only difference between Stalin and what these Communists are doing is that they can't get away with killing people. At least not yet. In the area of race there has been no political party that has done as much damage as the Democrats, however. 

It is verifiable that the Democrats were the historic party of slavery, Jim Crow, the KKK, lynching, and the internment of American's of Japanese descent in WW2. They have always used race to divide people. Keeping poor whites ignorant and in their place as well as keeping black people poor and ignorant. The Communists exploited race issues back in the days that the Democrats were treating blacks as 2nd class citizens and now that the Communists have taken control of the Democrat party they continue to exploit race at a time when the races are getting along. Morgan Freeman was once asked what could be done to improve race relations in America. He replied "just quit talking about it". The Democrats can't afford to quit talking about it. Racial division is their meal ticket. Blacks like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and groups like BLM have become filthy rich exploiting race. If the Democrats lost just 20 to 30% of the black vote it could be disastrous to them. There is no one more racist or anti semitic than white leftists. Yet, they get a pass on their racism.  Democrats make actual racist or anti-semitic comments and are never called on the carpet for them. Democrat Robert Byrd of Virginia was a longtime recruiter and Klan official that supposedly apologized for his past. Which makes it okay for the Democrats. He once used the term White niggers in a speech and this was totally ignored by the media and the Democrats. Bill Clinton said this about Obama when he was trying to get Ted Kennedy to support Hillary for the 2008 Democrat nomination "this guy would have been carrying our bags", Joe Biden also said this about Obama. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Hillary Clinton once called Bill Clinton's campaign manager a "fucking Jew bastard" Louis Farakhan, who Obama and many Democrats have been cozy with, compares Jews to termites.

J. William Fulbright was a staunch segregationist who signed the Southern Manifesto protesting the Brown vs. the Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954. The manifesto was signed by 101 Southern congressmen and senators. Only two were Republican. He also participated in a filibuster led by Southern Democrats against the 1964 Civil Rights Act which lasted for 83 days. Fulbright was Bill Clinton's mentor that helped launch his political career, seek a Rhodes scholarship, and he helped him receive a deferment from draft during the Vietnam War. Bill Clinton said the following words at his funeral. "We come to celebrate and give thanks for the remarkable life of J. William Fulbright, a life that changed our country and our world forever and for the better. . . . In the work he did, the words he spoke and the life he lived, Bill Fulbright stood against the 20th century’s most destructive forces and fought to advance its brightest hopes". Clinton was sued in 1989 by the NAACP under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 for suppressing the black vote in Arkansas. The Arkansas Gazette of December 6, 1989, states: “Plaintiffs offered plenty of proof of monolithic voting along racial lines, intimidation of black voters and candidates and other official acts that made voting harder for blacks…the evidence at the trial was indeed overwhelming that the Voting Rights Act had been violated…” The article continues: During his 12-year tenure, Governor Clinton never approved a state civil-rights law. He did, however; issue birthday proclamations honoring Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. He also signed Act 116 in 1987. That statute reconfirmed that the star directly above the word “Arkansas” in the state flag “is to commemorate the Confederate States of America.” Arkansas also observed Confederate Flag Day every year Clinton served. Bill Clinton calls Trump racist for using the term Make America Great Again but he used that term during his own 1992 campaign.

 

When Ted Kennedy threw his support behind Obama instead of Hillary in 2008 Clinton said “the only reason you are endorsing him is because he’s black. Let’s just be clear.” Adding "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee". Then lets don't forget that Hillary won Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger award. Sanger was a virulent racist and eugenicist. Hillary said the following “It was a great privilege when I was told that I would receive this award. I admire Margaret Sanger enormously. Her courage, her tenacity, her vision … When I think about what she did all those years ago in Brooklyn, taking on archetypes, taking on attitudes and accusations flowing from all directions, I’m really in awe of her. There are a lot of lessons we can learn from her life, from the causes she launched and fought for and scarified for so greatly.” Hillary was called before Congress. U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) made the following statement “the poor, disenfranchised, weak, disabled, a person of color (and) an unborn child are among the so-called undesirables that Sanger would exterminate from the human race.” Clinton responded: “I admire Thomas Jefferson, his words and his leadership — and I deplore his un-repentant slave holding. I admire Margaret Sanger being a pioneer and trying to empower women to have some control over their bodies — and I deplore the statements you have referenced. That is the way we often are when we look at flawed human beings. There are things we admire, and things that we deplore.” This might be true about Jefferson but he was not obsessed with slavery or killing blacks because he considered them inferior.

 When Hillary was first lady she called young Black men “super-predators” and she also said, “We have to bring them to heel,” While in the senate she disparaged people from India by the following. “I love this quote. It’s from Mahatma Gandhi. He ran a gas station down in St. Louis for a couple of years. Mr. Gandhi, do you still go to the gas station? In 2005 she said “I am adamantly against illegal immigrants.” something that she calls Donald Trump a racist for today. During the 2008 campaign she started rumors about Obama's place of birth. She was the original "Birther" and was also the first person to release pictures of Obama in full Muslim garb. Trump is called a racist for forcing Obama to produce a birth certificate. Hillary and New York mayor Bill de Blasio once joked about how lazy Black people are and joked about being on “colored people’s time”. 

 What about Joe Biden? He said this about Hispanics. Latinos in America resist vaccinations because "they're worried that they'll be vaccinated and deported" This statement ignores the fact that there are over 60 million Latinos are American citizens. In May 2020 Biden told a popular black radio host that his largely black audience weren't black if they didn't vote for him. In August 2020 Biden told a gathering of black and Hispanic journalists that “unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things.” In the same interview a black reporter asked if he had taken a cognitive test. Biden angrily accused the reporter of being a drug addict. In 2010 Biden said this about Robert Byrd the former exalted cyclops of the KKK upon his death. “one of my mentors” and that “the Senate is a lesser place for his going.” In 2006 he said “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” In 1977 he said that forced bussing would cause his kids to “grow up in a racial jungle.” He once said “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” As if all black kids were poor and there are no poor white kids. Democrats get away with these racist comments because the Democrat controlled media ignores them or spins them to mean something else. Unless you are a sellout like Liz Cheney Republicans could never get away with comments like these. Especially Trump or anyone in his family. 

 In conclusion I will say that the comments of Ronald Reagan, as deplorable as they were, does not change my overall assessment of his presidency. Reagan took the modern conservative movement that was started by Barry Goldwater and made it mainstream. Like Goldwater Reagan gave us a clear choice. Something that the eastern establishment Republicans failed to do and couldn't do. Yes, his comments were disappointing and hurtful but they were words. The Democrats, through their actions have done great damage to the black family. Damage that might never be repaired. If you want to blame slavery for that damage then go ahead because the Democrats fostered slavery in this country. On the other hand if you believe that the social welfare policies of the Great Society created by Lyndon Johnson caused the damage then that is okay too because again, the Democrat party was responsible. Blacks had more opportunity to succeed under the policies of Reagan and Trump than any presidents in modern history.