Stoking Racial Division

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Racial Division

Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Of all the hot button issues in American politics, race remains the most explosive. The hope that the election of America's first black president would heal old wounds has faded along with hope and change. In fact, Obama's allies now appear to be intentionally encouraging racial hatred.

In the days leading up to Labor Day, members of the Congressional Black Caucus tried to smear the Tea Party movement as if it were a mass revival of the Ku Klux Klan. One member even suggested that some conservatives wouldn't be satisfied until blacks were dead.

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) recently blamed racism for high unemployment in the black community. She later said, "Let us all remember who the real enemy is. The real enemy is the Tea Party -- the Tea Party holds the Congress hostage. They have one goal in mind, and that's to make President Obama a one-term president."

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) attempted to portray Texas Governor Rick Perry as a racist for expressing his support for the Tenth Amendment. Jackson issued a statement suggesting that the Tenth Amendment was a pro-slavery amendment. Consider this excerpt:
"Governor Rick Perry wants to be the champion of the Tenth Amendment and states' rights… He said he wants to 'work every day to try to make Washington, DC, as inconsequential in your life as I can.' …He apparently believes, as Ronald Reagan did, that the federal government is not the solution. The federal government is the problem. Truer words or more faithful ideas could not have been attributed to Confederate President Jefferson Davis… After-all, it was the Tenth Amendment and states' rights that protected the institution of slavery. The words 'slave' or 'slavery' did not appear in the Constitution. The institution of slavery, the Tenth Amendment and states' rights are joined at the hip. …"
Not to be outdone, Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) said this: "Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second class citizens. Some of them in Congress right now with this Tea Party movement would love to see you and me… hanging on a tree." It is hard to think of a more evil, divisive tactic than the race baiting these left-wing Democrats have chosen to engage in.

To his credit, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has threatened to resign from the Congressional Black Caucus if its leadership does not condemn this outrageous slander. West isn't holding his breath. The CBC isn't backing down. Why should they? The media have been largely silent.

Unfortunately, this appears to have been an orchestrated effort to try out new campaign themes, presumably with Obama's blessing since he has not condemned the remarks. This is an effort by the left to strengthen support for Obama with his base because his policies are costing him support among moderates and independents.

Responsible journalists should forcefully condemn this kind of vile, hateful rhetoric. And so too should President Obama. It is incredibly dangerous for members of the Congressional Black Caucus to use the language of lynchings when we already have flash mobs of urban minority youth engaged in hate crimes around the country.
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Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families.  Note a related article - April 30, 2010:; Racialism: The First Refuge of Desperate Democrats

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