Ron Paul’s Views On Race Will Be His Downfall
By Daniel Miessler on May 22nd, 2007: Tagged as Politics | Race | Ron Paul
As we all know, candidates trying to win elections are ecstatic when they discover something an opponent has said or done in the past. Well, Ron Paul has given his enemies just what they are looking for. Here are a few choice quotes on race from his past:
Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the ‘criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal. — Ron Paul
…he went on to say (paraphrasing) that good people like himself are always told that it’s wrong to be afraid of black men, but that given how much crime they commit it’s basically rational to have such a fear.
Here’s the thing: I’m all for open and honest discussion of race — including bringing up and discussing the merits of negative stereotypes. I’ve done a little of it here and intend to do more in the future. But Ron Paul is running for president, and in today’s world you just can’t be a viable candidate with that kind of language in your past.
I think there are two options here:
- He’s a decent and honest guy who was a bit too haphazard with his language concerning race in the past. And if he addresses things properly he may be able to pull out at least a shot at being a front-runner.
- He’s a closet racist and these comments are simply examples of it shining through. If that’s the case then more and more will surface to support this fact. At that point he’s done. He’ll not only get very little support at that point, but mine will be gone as well.
It’s quite sad, really. I was very much for him based on what I had seen thus far. But alas there are chinks in the armor. First I heard him say he wasn’t convinced about global warming. Then there’s this stuff about us being a Christian nation. And now this stuff about black people.
Oh well. gg.
I’ll give him a chance to explain himself (even if it’s a logical defense of controversial views), but if he flip-flops or comes out with a clear racist slant, I’m done.: