I wrote much of this as a comment in the "Black Camerawoman at CNN Speaks Out" diary. But with some of the other diaries that have been published, I think it's worth expanding. Yes, racism is everywhere. Yes, people can be attacked verbally and even assaulted anywhere. But certain things are more likely in certain places. Yes, Ted Landsmark was assaulted in front of Boston City Hall in the the capital city of one of the most liberal states in America. But does anyone think it was an accident that:
1. It was in Mississippi that Emmett Till was murdered?Let me add one more:2. It was in Philadelphia, MS that James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner were murdered?
3. It was in Alabama that Viola Liuzzo was murdered?
4. It was in Selma and Montgomery, AL, that Sheriff Jim Clark and Bull Connor beat and cattle-prodded and turned dogs and firehoses on civil rights marchers?
5. It was at Howard Beach that Michael Griffith was killed?
6. It was at a Republican Convention that attendees threw peanuts at black CNN camerawoman Patricia Carroll and said: "This is the way we feed animals!"?
7. That it was within the Democratic Party and not the GOP that a black man named Barack Hussein Obama was nominated for President?
Certain things tend to happen more in certain places and in certain institutions. And this year's edition of the GOP is doing what it's done since Richard Nixon formulated his "Southern strategy" and started appealing to the racists who once were Dixiecrats and then became Reagan Democrats. Is it any surprise that there are a significant number of racists in Tampa this week?
But the Romney GOP is really doing no more race-baiting than St. Ronald Reagan was when he gave his first speech after being nominated for President in 1980 in -- yes -- Philadelphia, Mississippi! Anyone have a Democratic equivalency for that?
