Disgusted with the open racism? Looking for someone to blame? Think Ronald Reagan.

[guillaumeb]

Yes, the Gipper, America's favorite B movie actor who pretended to be a President for 8 years.

Why Reagan? Because Reagan started his campaign for the Presidency near Philadelphia, Mississippi, at the Neshoba County Fair Grounds.

Why is this choice of venue significant? First, because the Fairgrounds were the site for KKK rallies. Second, because Philadelphia Mississippi was where the bodies of murdered civil rights workers Goodman, Schwerner, and Cheney were found.

Reagan loved to talk about states rights, and for racists, the term states rights has significance because it was one of the justifications that slave states used to discourage any attempts to abolish slavery.

In addition, Reagan loved to recount those welfare queen stories, about the black lady in a Cadillac, as well as his stories about the lazy young bucks sitting around not working.

It was Reagan who emboldened the robed and hooded racists to take the robes and hoods back out of the closets and proudly speak the racist hate speech that they previously only whispered.

Thanks, Richard Nixon, for the Southern Strategy. But more thanks to Ronald Reagan for making racists everywhere proud to be racists.

[Glorfindel]

1. Yes! You said it just right. Reagan may just have been the worst president ever.

Though considering Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Nixon, Bush I, Bush II, and the current thingoccupying the White House, he has lots of competition.

[guillaumeb]

2. He does. But Reagan was a smooth appearing racist, whereas Trump is that crude, embarassing

racist that talks loudly but is a coward when confronted.

[Boomerproud]

3. Reagan was never confronted, sadly. That was a huge mistake.

Yes, SNL made fun of him, but in a gentle itically. I agree that RR Superstar made overt racism politically correct by telling white males "You're the ones getting screwed.". The ERA didn't pass because of him also.

[guillaumeb]

5. And the media gave Reagan a pass even whe he was totally incapacitated.

So much for the liberal media bias silliness.

[eleny]

4. And even back to Nixon and his "Southern Strategy"

We need to be reminded of the genesis in modern times. Woodrow Wilson was no angel. But right now it's in the laps and on the shoulders of the Republican Party.

[guillaumeb]

6. And by their silence they are embracing this racism.

By not openly confronting the racism they are normalizing and validating it because they know that a significant portion of their base is sympathetic to, or supportive of, open racism.

[lunasun]

7. Thank you for putting together what I have been telling younger people ...when trump started up

I said I hadn't seen outright racism like that from a candidate since Reagan . Trump racism is worse but Reagan started so much destruction he can even be blamed for a lot going on today including trumps rise

[guillaumeb]

8. Yes, I agree that Reagan should be blamed.

And many conservatives worship the dead racist. Reagan also restarted the war on union workers and the war on government that the right is so supportive of today.