Palin's record on race and diversity has been the blankest of blank sheets

Palin's record on race a blank sheet
Earl Ofari Hutchinson

There's no record that Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin uttered anything more than the obligatory complimentary congratulations to the woman that beat her out for the Miss Alaska title in 1984. The winner was Maryline Blackburn, an African American. A ritual congratulatory wish from Palin would have been about the only public acknowledgement to date from her in an instance, in this case a beauty contest, where Palin was confronted with the issue of diversity in the person of a competitor.

Since then, Palin's record on race and diversity has been the blankest of blank sheets. The probes into Palin's record on diversity and civil rights have almost exclusively focused on her views on gay rights, same-sex marriage and equal pay. These are crucial civil rights issues. But so are racial diversity and civil rights....

During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, she told the Eagle Forum that she opposed expanded hate crime legislation. She branded all heinous crimes as hate crimes. This view of what constitutes a hate crime goes squarely against the wide body of law and public policy that defines a hate crime as a willful act or threat based solely on racial, gender or religious animus. By lumping common crimes, no matter how repulsive, into the hate crime category, Palin would effectively gut enforcement of federal hate crime laws.

In her gubernatorial campaign booklet in 2006, Palin gave her equally terse view of discrimination. She simply said that she and her gubernatorial running mate value cultural diversity and would provide opportunities for all Alaskans. She made no mention of affirmative action, job discrimination, and the enforcement of civil rights laws. Palin made no mention of Alaska's affirmative-action plan. It's been in place since 1998 and mandates that the state make special efforts to ensure that veterans, especially disabled veterans, have equal access to state jobs. Presumably, Palin backs the plan. Yet, she makes no mention on her Web site or any other place what her office has done to enforce the state's tightly constricted affirmative action plan.

Knowing Palin's views on race and civil rights, whatever they are, is more than just a matter political one-upmanship. If elected, her views will carry much weight when it comes to making and enforcing legal and public policies that affect minorities and women. That's certainly been true in her home state. Alaska's Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts make up more than 15 percent of the state's population. Indian activist groups there have protested discrimination and disparities in health and education, and also disparities over their hunting and fishing rights. There is no record that Palin has spoken out on their plight.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/05/EDFG12NLTV.DTL

Those rumors about her ties to the Aryan Nation and other White supremacy groups is a bit strange; come out swinging and let us know where you stand, Sarah.

About her polluting the bloodline by breeding with part Native American husband though. Or maybe she didn't vet him until too late.