A Word To The Wise, Republicans

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Two days ago, I wrote that it would be fun to watch Republicans try to avoid pissing off the Latinos (and non-Latinos who don’t like it when people are racist towards Latinos) while going after Sonia Sotomayor. This balancing act really isn’t all that difficult for people who don’t actually hold any racial animus. But predictably, the Republicans have failed at this task. Though it is not for the reasons most people are talking about.

A lot of people want to focus on Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) Ricky Ricardo “you got some ’splainin’ to do” joke that he unleashed at Sotomayor’s expense yesterday. Don’t get confused by the small potatoes. The only other “Latinos” Coburn seems to know off the top of his head are Speedy Gonzales and Zorro. Either of those cultural references would have been worse.

But really, racism isn’t about what people say. It’s about how people think. And when you look at how some Republicans are thinking about Sotomayor (and the black and brown peoples of this country), that is where they do themselves some real damage.

Ladies and Gentleman, after the jump I present Pat Buchanan and his plan for “handling” soon-to-be Justice Sotomayor.

On his personal blog Pat Buchanan wrote a piece titled: “How to Handle Sonia.” He writes some pretty incendiary things, like: “Sonia is, first and foremost, a Latina,” and ” [Sotomayor's] career bespeaks a lifelong resolve to discriminate against white males to the degree necessary to bring about an equality of rewards in society.”

But Buchanan wrote that just for shock value. I’ve never met him but I’ve watched him on t.v. forever (hat tip: The McLaughlin Group). Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he meant what he wrote, it’s just that Pat Buchanan writes and says those types of things just to make sure people read — but fail to engage with — the truly aggressive point people should be offended by. Here’s the real money quote Buchanan was hoping people would accept but gloss over:

In 2008, Hispanics, according to the latest figures, were 7.4 percent of the total vote. White folks were 74 percent, 10 times as large. Adding just 1 percent to the white vote is thus the same as adding 10 percent to the candidate’s Hispanic vote.

That is how you say “I don’t care about brown people” without letting an entire city full of them drown.

What is the point of writing those seemingly innocuous demographic numbers? It’s to remind Republicans that they don’t need the Hispanic vote. And if they don’t need it, then why the hell should they care about what Hispanics think about them? Why should they? In the logic of Republicans like Buchanan, it honestly doesn’t matter if an entire race of people finds them palatable or not. Oh, they are happy to have their votes if racial (or sexual) minorities will give them. But they are not about to stand for the miscegenation of the party platform with views that don’t respect the sovereign status quo of the white male power structure. It has been their playbook since the civil rights era.

One way I know this is because the Northeastern Republican party (you know, the ones who are not supposed to be prejudiced) has failed to do any significant outreach towards minorities in the Northeast for at least 40-odd years. I’m middle class! I love money, and America, and I know a lot of black and brown people who do too.  But Republicans can’t compete for the black vote even in the Northeast. That is a ridiculous failure of the Republican platform and a stunning indictment of the Republican ideology.

Yet if I went to Pat Buchanan’s house and explained to him that I’m open-minded and willing to listen to new ideas, but I told him that the consistent and subtle prejudice espoused by some members of his party turns me off — he’d probably tell me it was my fault. I should just “get over” the systematic slavery and oppression of my people and act like, I don’t know, Clarence Thomas. Then, when I punched him in the nose, he’d charge me with a reverse hate crime and blame it on Obama.

Minorities read the tea leaves and hear all of that demeaning disregard for their heritage when people like Pat Buchanan say “adding just 1 percent to the white vote is thus the same as adding 10 percent to the candidate’s Hispanic vote.” What, you thought those numbers were an accident? No. Read it as you would if you had been hearing this crap your entire life: 1 white voter is equal 10 Hispanic voters.

To some Republicans, those numbers read like a basic political strategy. Saying “wise Latina” 50 times sounds like they are making a valid political point. Saying “you have to do some explaining”  [grammar corrected] in an Oklahoma version of a stereotypical Latino accent is just a “cultural reference” to a television show millions of Americans loved.

But having empathy with a group of people that has a different set of American experiences? Republicans like Pat Buchanan don’t even want to do that. They don’t think they have to.