Last week, the Democrat Governors Association tweeted this about Meg Whitman, a gubernatorial candidate in California: "Are you Latino?  Meg Whitman wants to eat tacos with you! Or deport you.  She can't seem to decide."

The point the DGA was trying to make, we think, is that Whitman's view on illegal immigration is inconsistent with courting Latino voters.  In some respects, they are right; but the subtext provides us more information about the Democrat Governor's Association than it does about Meg Whitman.  Back to that in a moment.

In Wisconsin

Last week, The Democrat Party of Wisconsin, the Democrat Black Caucus, and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett all criticized Walker's campaign for a tweet linking Obama's recent visit to a "Soul Train" video.  It was considered racially insensitive by some and blatantly racist by others.

Democrat leaders saw blood in the water and were relentless in their pursuit.  A reporter for the state's largest newspaper put it this way,

"Let's face it: When the first black president is in town and campaign staffers for the leading Republican candidate for governor start making references to 'Soul Train,' that doesn't seem like a coincidence."

Back to California

In California, the Democrat Governor's Association did something far more egregious than link to a "Soul Train" video.  First, they stereotyped Latinos as taco lovers.  And to make things worse, they also stereotyped them as being illegal.

Let's look at this from a different perspective.  Let's say that the DGA released a statement saying, "Are you black?  Meg Whitman wants to eat watermelons with you.  Or take away your entitlements, she can't seem to decide."  We don't think that would go over too well with the black community.  Or how about this, "Are you Jewish?  Meg Whitman wants to eat unleavened bread with you.  Or convert you to Christianity, she can't seem to decide."  I have some Jewish friends that wouldn't care for such a statement.  But since they're talking about Latinos, the most discriminated ethnic group in the U.S., it's not a big deal, right?

In California, the Democrat Governor's Association made generalizations and stereotypes about Latinos.  Nothing happened.  In Wisconsin, one of Walker's staffers linked Obama's response to a "Soul Train" video, and the Democrat Black Caucus went nuts.  The former is a clear example of diminishing an ethnic group by generalizations and stereotypes.  The latter had no generalizations or stereotypes, and Walker's campaign had to apologize to keep the peace.

Conclusion

There is an underlined problem in politics known as partisan hypocrisy.  If tweets are racist, then they're racist regardless of what political party is doing it.  The Wisconsin Democrat Black Caucus pounced on an issue that was a minor offense that had no real evidence of malice.  In California, However, the intent was clear - Latinos either love tacos or are illegal.  When will people see that racism is not limited to political affiliation?

After linking to a few tweets by some Republican leaders, our liberal friend over at the Cognitive Dissidence had this to say,

"How many times do we have to see this kind of crap, especially among the higher ranks of the Republicans, before they admit this isn't a fluke for them?"

I have notified Liebenthal to the grievances in California.  We'll see if his outrage is righteous or partisan.     

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Comments (1)

• 2011-11-17 16:44:10 |67.84.89.xxx| Anonymous

  All latinos eat tacos, the cultures are completely the same. whether you like it or not, tacos are your life, and you are all mexicans

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