Paul Is Not The Only Racist Republican Presidential Candidate

There's been a lot written recently about the obvious racism of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. That's as it should be, because he has a long history of racism. He claims he's not a racist, but his words ring hollow in light of years of writings and racist attitudes. But Paul is not the only Republican presidential candidate who has definite racist tendencies.

In a recent rant to Republican voters in Sioux City (Iowa), Rick Santorum exposed his own racism. He told the crowd that he does not want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money". That obviously racist statement contains a couple of untrue inferences -- that most African-Americans live off government programs, and that African-Americans make up the bulk of the people receiving government assistance. Those are not just outrageous lies -- they are outrageous RACIST lies. The lies were told by Santorum to appeal to the racist tendencies of his teabagger audience for votes by letting them know he shares their racist views.

Why do I say this? Because Santorum is not an uneducated person. He knows the statement he made is not true, especially in Iowa. In Iowa, only about 9% of the people on Food Stamps are African-American while a full 84% are Whites. But he couldn't tell the truth, because the audience might not be so willing to go along with his cutting of necessary social programs if they realized that most of the people receiving assistance are their own friends and neighbors, and just as white as they are. So he demonized African-Americans by skewing the stats and inferring they make up the bulk of people receiving assistance.

But this is not just a racist lie in Iowa. In the United States as a whole, the largest demographic receiving government assistance (whether Food Stamps, welfare, or some other kind of government assistance) is white people. That has always been true, and remains so today. Any educated person must know this, because the facts are easily attainable.

By skewing the statistics to appeal to the racist tendencies of his teabagger audience, Rick Santorum has exposed himself as a liar and a racist (and unworthy to be elected to any political office). Are Paul and Santorum the only racists among the Republican presidential candidates? Probably not, but they are the most obvious ones.