The Myth of White Paranoia 9/15/13 elburropete@gmail.com

Expect to frequently hear the phrase “voter suppression” between now and the elections in 2014, and probably thereafter if the Democrats don’t do well.  Democrats have been using the phrase to fire up the minority voters they so depend on, specifically Blacks and Hispanics, but the recent recall elections in Colorado, which resulted in two gun-control Democrats being ousted, was also quickly blamed on “voter suppression” by DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

She cited Colorado’s new restrictions on mail-in ballots and not voter ID laws as the source of “suppression,” and not once did she mention how this disproportionately effected minorities, so I guess even white folks can be  “victims” of “voter suppression.”   Obviously, the Democrats think “voter suppression“ is a good marketing tool, and they’re probably right.

They don’t have to worry about the mainstream media challenging the charge, which falls apart under even the most cursory examination of the numbers.  Here’s what Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal said on Fox News,  8/13/13, about voter ID laws: “There is simply no evidence that these laws suppress black voter turnout.  States like Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, have some of the strictest voter ID laws in the country.  In those states last year, black voter turnout exceeded white voter turnout.  If Republicans are trying to suppress the black vote, they are doing a spectacularly bad job of it.”

Of course, true believers and useful idiots don’t let facts get in the way of deeply satisfying righteous indignations over such injustices as “voter suppression.”   In fact, the suppression charge is just one of many that form a tapestry of “racism” leveled at befuddled Republicans.  Immigration reform is another, as is stop-and-frisk, even when the practice is supported by a big lib such as Mayor Bloomberg of NYC.

Republicans who think these tactics appeal only to the relatively uninformed minority voter are making a BIG mistake. This was brought home to me when I attended a university forum last month in which two distinguished professors of Mexican heritage made the remarkable statements that voter ID laws, immigration reform, and racial profiling, specifically stop-and-frisk, were a manifestation of desperate white racists who were acting out of FEAR, fear that whites will soon be in the minority.

Since I know and respect both of these gentlemen, I have no doubt they actually believe this.  The older of the two said he had experienced racial profiling “many times.”

I have never experienced racial profiling. I have never been in a room in which I was the only, or one of only a few, white people.  I have never experienced the fear or apprehension of a “minority” person.   Consequently, I have no idea what the professor was talking about when he said “fear” was at the root of things like voter ID laws.  Both professors are guilty of projecting their personal feelings and experiences, and coming up with a profoundly distorted view of reality.

To illustrate, let me list a few people whom I would like to see prosper, multiply, and rule the world.  I flatter myself that these are my kind of folks, but in reality they’re all far more accomplished and far more courageous than I’ll ever be: Deneen Borelli, Rev. C.L. Bryant, Herman Cain, Ben Carson, Larry Elder, Mia Love, Lloyd Marcus,  Delroy Murdock, Star Parker, Charles Payne, Condi Rice, Jason Riley, Tim Scott, Thomas Sowell, Michael Steele, Clarence Thomas, David Webb, Allen West, Walter Williams, Crystal Wright and many more.

OOPS! I left out a few people I would be happy to have in charge of immigration reform, or, for that matter, in charge of the world: Linda Chavez, Ted Cruz, Humberto Fontova, Michelle Malkin, Susanna Martinez, Marco Rubio.

Every one of the people in the above two paragraphs would be most welcome at any TEA Party meeting anywhere in America, and at least a couple are active TEA Party members.  This shouldn’t surprise anybody.  The TEA Party is interested in the content of a person’s character, not the color of their skin.