Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released a statement reminding their constituents to look both ways this month before telling their favorite Black History Month joke.
This month, we celebrate the influence of African Americans in every aspect of our country’s life. http://t.co/GYWes8jGCs
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) February 1, 2014
The statement reads as follows:
“Today marks the beginning of Black History Month, a time to celebrate the influence of African Americans in every aspect of our country’s life. Throughout the month, Republicans will honor black history and pay tribute to the impact that generations of African Americans have had on our nation and our Party,” said Chairman Priebus.
“As chairman, I’m particularly mindful of the many African Americans who have shaped our Party—from its earliest days as a small group of abolitionists through today. We remember individuals like the great reformer and orator Frederick Douglass and the first black congressman Hiram Revels, and we celebrate today’s leaders like Condoleezza Rice, the first black female Secretary of State, and Senator Tim Scott, the first black Senator from the South in over a century.”
“During Black History Month, we remember our past as we look to build the future,” said Co-Chairman Sharon Day. “The Party continues to stand proudly on the principles of individual freedom and equal opportunity for all, which have guided us from our earliest days. But we do recognize we must strive to build stronger relationships in the black community. That’s why we’ve made a commitment to having a presence where people live, work, and worship. It’s our opportunity to listen to voter concerns and share our hearts and ideas.”
Having to go back 150 years to claim Frederick Douglass and Hiram Revels means Republicans now own Frederick Douglass and Hiram Revels outright. And since they can’t talk back to today’s Republicans, all the better. Are you listening Colin Powell?
So, not only do they have Frederick Douglass and Hiram Revels “working” for them, they’ve got Condoleezza Rice and Tim Scott– “the first black Senator from the South in over a century.”
Progress!
And to help champion that progress, RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day calls on all of us to proudly remember the past during Black History Month, “as we look to build the future,” when “individual freedom and equal opportunity for all” guided our early principles.
Republicans recognize that they have to build stronger relationships in the black community, sure, and the best way for them to do that is to show up at your home, work, school, and places of worship to get in your face. That, and continuing their attacks on the first African American president who gets no honorable mention from the RNC in its ongoing whitewashing deconstruction era of American history.
Leave it to Republicans to turn Black History Month into a divisive, partisan, racist dog-whistle to showcase their innate aversion to decency and reality.
Full-steam ahead toward the 20th century!