GOP club newsletter sparks outrage

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
GOP club newsletter sparks outrage
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Fri, 10-17-2008 - 10:23am

Altered Obama photo in GOP club newsletter sparks outrage
Illustration shows the candidate's head on donkey's body on a bogus $10 bill that says 'Food Stamps.' Leader of the Upland women's group denies racism, but a state party official decries the image.


A Republican women's club in San Bernardino County sent out a recent newsletter with a photo of Barack Obama surrounded by fried chicken, watermelon and ribs, sparking widespread outrage and rebuke from GOP leaders and Democrats.

The illustration shows the Democratic presidential candidate's head atop a donkey's body on a bogus $10 bill referred to as "Obama Bucks." Inscribed on the money are the words "United States Food Stamps" surrounded by stereotypical African American food.

The October newsletter went out to about 200 members of the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated, based in Upland.

"I apologize to anyone who was offended because that was not my intent," said club President Diane Fedele. "It was poor judgment on my part. It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of Obama's statement that he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

The caption reads: "Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on ????? Food Stamps, what else!"

Fedele said the mailer merely parodied the statements Obama made during a debate last summer and wasn't racist.

"If I was racist, I would have looked at it through racist eyes," she said. "I am not racist, which is why it probably didn't register."

Club member Kristina Sandoval agreed.

"None of us are racists," she said.

The use of watermelon, ribs and fried chicken was innocent, she said.

"Everyone eats those foods, it's not a racial thing."

That's not how club member Acquanetta Warren -- a Fontana city councilwoman and an African American -- saw it.

"My daughter who is 16 was standing over my shoulder when I opened the e-mail, and her mouth dropped wide open," Warren said. "I actually turned the screen away and sent her to her room so she wouldn't see. I don't want to talk to anyone; I want a written apology so the public knows that this is not right and this is not representative of the way Republicans think."

She's known Fedele a long time and is shocked by the newsletter.

"When she didn't see a problem with this, I knew something was wrong," said Warren, who is also vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party for the Inland Empire. "This is an isolated, crazy thing. Our chairman is outraged. We just don't do this."

Indeed, Fedele drew a sharp reprimand from Ron Nehring, California Republican Party chairman.

"Any material that invokes issues related to race is absolutely unacceptable, tarnishes our party, diminishes the hard work of the tens of thousands of volunteers who are working hard every day for our candidates, and must be condemned," he said in a statement Thursday. "This material I've seen inspires nothing but divisiveness and hostility and has absolutely no place in this election, or any public discourse."

His statement also referred to an image on the Sacramento County GOP website this week showing Obama in a turban beside Osama bin Laden with the words: "The difference between Osama and Obama is just a little B.S." The site also exhorted members to "Waterboard Barack Obama."

"I called the chairman and said, 'You need to take that off your website,' and he took it off," said Hector Barajas, spokesman for the state GOP.

Fedele and the others at the Chaffey Community Republican club are volunteers and can't be fired. Aside from politics, they also do volunteer and charity work throughout the community.

Gary Ovitt, a county supervisor and chairman of the San Bernardino County Republican Party, is scheduled to meet with Fedele on Monday to discuss the incident.

"He is disgusted and appalled by it, and he believes it is blatantly racist and offensive no matter what the intent was," said Burt Southard, Ovitt's spokesman. "These are individual clubs. This one in particular may be one of the largest in the state and is one of the most active."

A spokesman for the Obama campaign in California, Gabriel Sanchez, declined to comment.

State Sen. Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) represents the area, and his wife, a Latina, is a member of the club.

"I thought it was unacceptable and a failed attempt at humor," Dutton said. "My wife isn't taking it personally because she knows the people involved. I called Diane and talked to her and told her it was inappropriate. She is a sweet lady without a mean bone in her body. But we all have to be more sensitive." (Me: And apparently not a brain in her head.)

Democrats weren't as charitable.

"I think it's sad and unbelievable that they can't see how offensive this is," said Carol Robb, head of the San Bernardino County Democratic Party. "People are losing their homes, we are in financial chaos and the best they can do is a caricature of Obama on a donkey's body and food stamps. How out of touch with the 21st century can you get?"

Newsletter photo of Obama

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 10:45am
Nothing from the Republicans surprises me anymore....
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 10:51am
My take is as long as no laws are broken, let this republican group put out anything they want to put out.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 10:54am

it's good to know what a GROUP is about .... not the same thing as a party.


what they did was wrong ... but they do not represent the party as a whole.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 10:58am

The use of watermelon, ribs and fried chicken was innocent, she said.

"Everyone eats those foods, it's not a racial thing."


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 11:02am
LOL

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 11:53am
Yep, charming. Was going to post this myself, because it dovetails nicely with the Sacramento GOP official web site story, which had the following graphic proudly displayed on it, until three days ago:



We're seeing the rock being pulled back to reveal the worms, in real-time....and it's fairly disgusting to see just how much racism and outright hatred is still around on the GOP side of things in this country. What's even more interesting about the "Obama food stamp" issue is that the woman in question who sent this thing out, claims in the article you posted that

If I was racist, I would have looked at it through racist eyes," she said. "I am not racist, which is why it probably didn't register.


This is something I've noticed frequently over the course of discussing politics with people - and sometimes even just casually socially: people either outright lying about their own racism, or - as I suspect is more likely the case - simply not even understanding that they are racists. If racism is defined as "The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others" (and it is), then it becomes hard to see how a person could take the time it must have taken to create this graphic from scratch (probably at least a half hour) and not understood that the choices of food that she made were inherently racist. Why not a pizza, a can of corn, and some pie (Obama's said he likes pie)? Why not fois gras, blinis and caviar? Why not burgers and fries? Her choice wasn't an accident. And while she may not have meant the food choices she DID make as an active slur (I won't try to divine her motives), if it WASN'T an intentional slur, then the only other possible answer would be that she has been taught from birth that making such comments and associations regarding black people simply isn't racist. That's the only "innocent" way such a thing could have occurred.

Either way, however, the incidents of outright racism - clear, unambiguous and overt - are steadily mounting as we get closer to election day, both in overall number and in frequency and severity. One final thought: I live in still-very-red Georgia. It may not be THE reddest state in the country (that would likely be Idaho or Utah, maybe Alabama or Mississippi), but it's nonetheless quite red. In 2006, when the Democrats swept into power nearly everywhere, the Republicans actually increased their majorities in Georgia. It was like being in a weird, bizarro-alternate universe. I'd turn on the TV or fire up the internets, and hear of this sweeping Democratic victory. And then I'd go outside and feel anything BUT that. Anyway, that's the general climate here. It's the land of God, Guns and Gingrich. So out in my little suburb, there's a once-a-month event along the historic downtown shopping district where they have a live band play in the square, the galleries and shops stay open late, most serve wine, there's those inflatable jumpy-things for the kids, etc. Not really a county fair or anything, just an excuse to have a mini-party once a month during the warmish months. So last night happened to be the night, and my family went.

In and amongst the other things, right on the square, there was a big McCain/Palin table set up (this is common, many businesses such as massage therapists or what have you will put out tables along the sidewalks, etc, during these evenings, so it wasn't out of place). Huge banner with the campaign's logo, complete with larger-than-life (about 4') pictures of McCain and Palin (rather disturbing, but that was probably just me, LOL). They had volunteers there with literature, passing out yard signs, etc - usual campaign visibility stuff. I watched it for a while; people were coming and going...or just passing by without taking much notice. Pretty standard. This was right on the square where the band was playing, so it was highly visible and well-traveled.

I made my way up the street with my son, because I knew that further up the less-traveled end of the street, there was sometimes a guy who did balloon animals. As I walked up the sidewalk, there was set-up an Obama campaign location. It was much like the McCain/Palin one, except smaller and less flashy. Not as huge a sign, etc, but otherwise pretty similar.

Except in two respects:

  1. It was in a considerably less well-traveled area, meaning that probably a lot fewer people saw it. I'm certain that's merely luck of the draw; I'm not trying to infer any nefarious intent to favor McCain on the part of the organizers....but it WAS a simple fact that the Obama station was more out-of-the-way, compared to the McCain one.

  2. The reason the above matters is that, as my son and I passed by the Obama volunteer station, we saw not one but TWO unrelated people standing beside the Obama volunteers (not on the sidewalk talking to them, like passersby were, but actually BEHIND the sidewalk, WITHIN the Obama volunteers' set-up). Both these guys were trying to interrupt the Obama volunteers as they tried to talk to people who stopped to talk or ask questions. Whatever the subject, these guys would point to the large-sign with Obama's picture on it and say - literally, these are quotes - "did you know this man is a Muslim terrorist?" "Did you know Obama's a traitor?" and other charming bits of "wisdom." Sometimes they'd say "that's not true" after literally anything the Obama volunteers tried to say, other times they'd try to raise their voices so the Obama people couldn't be heard. And when there weren't any passersby, they'd just argue with the volunteers. One of the Obama people told me that the two of them had already been there for over an hour, and didn't seem like they were leaving any time soon. I doubt those men actually CAME to the evening's event with the intent of spending the entire thing at the Obama table...but nevertheless, that's what these self-styled "truth-tellers" chose to do. Two of them, independent from one another. When I came BACK the other way down the same sidewalk later - near the official end-time of the outdoor event, they were still there, like I'd never left, even though the Obama people were starting to pack up their stuff.


I shook my head a little bit, and jokingly told one of the Obama people I was sorry they hadn't been able to shake their "pet wingnut," which earned me a rueful chuckle....but it occurred to me as I was walking away (past the also-dissassembling and still-peaceful McCain station) that I'd see no such thing at all, the entire night, at the McCain table. And it's not because there weren't people passing by who are seriously opposed to the idea of a McCain/Palin administration; I know because I saw several friends there whose own opposition to such a thing surely is as adamant as the "pet wingnut's" was to an Obama administration. But it just didn't happen; people pretty much had a "live and let live" attitude towards the McCain/Palin table....as it should be. But the hate and conflict at the Obama station was palpable.

Anecdotal, I know....but I think we're only going to see more of this as the election draws closer. I only hope that these rage-filled GoOPers don't decide to try to hamstring the entire country for the next four years if Obama wins, as is looking more and more likely. I hope they'll be able to swallow the bitter pill and work as a "loyal opposition" party. Seeing what went on during the Clinton years, though, I'm not optimistic about that, sadly.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 12:05pm
Mmmm hmmmm....

And how did you feel about this little gem, proudly displayed on the home page of the Sacramento, California Republican Party, until two days ago?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 12:22pm

That one is almost as bad as this one:


iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 12:34pm
Not exactly, but whatever.......
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 12:44pm
Well, that is bad.

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