Republican-Sanctioned Stereotypes

Published on Monday, November 1, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Republican-Sanctioned Stereotypes

by Roberto Rodriguez


Many Republicans and conservatives do not seem to know, or appear to not have the faintest clue, as to what is a racially insulting and dehumanizing image. At least they feign ignorance.

It is the same ignorance that was used to claim that there was nothing wrong with usage of the "Black Sambo" or "Chinaman" images of a generation ago. It is the same ignorance that was used to claim there was nothing wrong with using a Mexican bandit - the "Frito Bandito" - to sell Frito Lay's corn chips. And then came the 1960s.

These people that feign ignorance nowadays always seem to work for political campaigns. Unless the topic is sports mascots. For example, the 1960s bypassed the Washington Redskins and Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians. The dehumanization of American Indians, particularly in the sports universe, has been normalized.

That aside, the rest of these operatives seem to work on political campaigns. But they are not ignorant; they know precisely how to tap into deep-seeded fears and how to stir up profound hate.

The 1988 Willie Horton ad by the Bush I campaign is always cited as a prime example of what campaigns are willing to do to scare the electorate: associate Blacks with crimes. Fast forward to 2010 and fear (and hate) of brown people has also become acceptable and normalized. Nevada Senate hopeful Sharron Angle's campaign has exploited images of Mexicans coming across the border. However, her explanation is that they actually may be Asian. She made that explanation in front of little children, mostly Mexican, telling them that they too looked Asian. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/11/01-5