Some Democrats and their allies in mainstream media have resorted to portraying Republicans as racists.  Furthermore, no matter one’s race or political affiliation, leftists often label anyone who has the temerity to support Trump as either a racist, an ignorant hick, or an Uncle Tom.  They continue this assault despite lacking any real evidence that Trump himself is a racist.  Indeed, there is good evidence to the contrary.  This sort of slander against the President is a special kind of evil that stifles political discourse and causes further damage to amicable race relations.

Why do they call Republicans racists?  After all, the Republican Party was born out of the abolitionist movement in 1856, and it was the Democrat Party that was associated with rebellion and the post-bellum, Jim Crow south. But after Reconstruction, the Republican Party became more and more identified with conservative northern business interests far removed from the everyday concerns of southern Black shareholders, and during the Great Depression the Democrat Party under FDR projected a far kinder aura than “tough it out” Republicans.  The GOP’s racial image was further damaged by the migration of many southern Democrats to the Republican Party during the Nixon administration.  

Nevertheless, Republicans remained consistently supportive of civil rights legislation during the 60s and 70s, and they continue to promote racial equality today.   On the other hand, these same Republicans consistently oppose what they consider overly generous welfare programs. While favoring an economic safety net, they believe that fostering long-term dependency on government is devastating to the recipients and to society overall because it diminishes the work ethic and human dignity and sabotages the nuclear family. There are also fiscal considerations.  Democrats often depict these Republican objections to generous hand-out programs as evidence of that party’s lack of compassion and outright racism.  In today’s hostile media environment it is difficult to advance the traditional American message that work-ethic, self-reliance, and small government is much more effective than a Federal dole in promoting freedom and progress.

More recently, Democrats attribute Republican support for a border wall as additional evidence of their supposed racism. In their view, if Republicans are racist toward blacks, they are also racist toward Mexicans and everyone else who “doesn’t look like them.”  The border wall is viewed as symbolic of this chauvinistic attitude. These charges are nonsense. There are many reasons to support a border wall. Nevertheless, these charges of racism have the effect of suppressing free speech.  No one wishes to be labeled a racist, and I believe there are many Trump supporters, Republican and Democrat, who remain hidden in their shells because of a fear of being falsely labeled.  How many of these hidden supporters are there? On election day I suppose we will find out.

America is not a racist nation.  We are a medley of ethnicities.  Those who shout RACISTS!!! are attempting to divide us.  We must not allow them to succeed.