To the editor:
When I opened The Collegian Monday morning, I was appalled to see some of the comments people said about Republicans (“Notes & Asides,” Feb. 13).
I wonder if these same people called 50 Cent a racist when he was out-spoken in his support for President George W. Bush in 2005. Or when Michael Steele was elected to be the Republican National Committee chairman in 2009. I wonder if they knew that the first African-Americans elected to the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate were both Republicans.
Is Sen. Marco Rubio, the newest Republican star and the son of Cuban immigrant parents, a racist? Or, on a local level, how about Republican Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, who is Jewish (one of America’s smallest minorities), her chief-of-staff George Andrews, who is Indian, and their intern, Matt Martinez, who is Hispanic? Are they all racists?
The Republican Party was founded by those who opposed slavery. The first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was a general and led the Allied forces against the Nazis in World War II, was a Republican. The policy pillars of the Republican Party are those of equal opportunity, self-reliance and the pursuit of economic prosperity.
Within the Fresno State College Republicans we have a very diverse group. I’d go so far as to argue that we are probably one of the most diverse groups on campus.
Sure, the opinion page is there for people to rant, go unchecked and say whatever factually incorrect statement they are capable of typing (I insist you fact check me). But do not think that such outlandish and blatantly false statements go unnoticed. Though I have to admit, I kind of enjoy when the ignorance that exists on this campus of reality outside of their own existence, such as these comments and the “Occupy” rallies, goes on public display, because it reaffirms not only to me, but a majority of the student body, how uneducated and blindly biased some people are.
If you believe that everyone should be assigned labels associated to them by race and gender while being issued societal handicaps based on those labels, or believe that minorities are incapable of managing their own finances or do well in school, please, by all means, vote Democrat. However, if you believe that everyone is born with and deserves an equal chance at the pursuit of their dreams, and that people should be judged on their merits, capabilities, ambition, desire, work ethic and NOT what the color of their skin is, join the College Republicans and vote Republican this June and November.
Matt Shupe
Chairman, Fresno State College Republicans
Vice President, Fresno State Jewish Studies Association
SpectacleStudy • Feb 19, 2012 at 3:13 pm
It’s horrible to start an article extolling the virtues of modern american conservatism with a case study of 50 cent, a chauvinistic homophobe. Touting Michael Steele as the paragon of African American involvement in the GOP coincided with the election of Obama for politically advantageous reasons, not because of his political acumen but the color of his skin (otherwise he would STILL be chairman of the GOP). It’s an unfair characterization of the Grand Ol’ Party to call it “racist” in nature. I think there are many racists involved in the GOP and the DNC. The institutional upheaval of racists, sexist, and classist natures is revealed as self-preservationist. Largely the racist powers that be manipulate politicians of all political stripes to promote agendas that are exclusive. This argument shifts away from what we ought to be talking about. What is the present institutional racism not individual racism is the more impacting question.
Philosotroll • Feb 19, 2012 at 12:36 pm
According to Public Policy Polling, a sampling of voters in the South Carolina GOP Primary tested at 20% on “Interracial marriage should be illegal.” Oh, by the way, when PPP ran the same question in a poll in Mississippi, 46% of Republicans thought it should be illegal.
I’m not for throwing the word “racist” out willy-nilly like some of the other commenters on the board. I feel like it cheapens a term that its important to use correctly. But to pretend that the GOP doesn’t have a racial problem is to ignore a substantive national issue that members of the party, Mr. Shupe included, ought to acknowledge.
ASIinfo • Feb 19, 2012 at 10:40 am
Selena Farnsi is registered as a American Independent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Independent_Party
Philosotroll • Feb 20, 2012 at 7:41 am
I’m pretty sure Selena is registered as an independent, not a member of AIP.
Carole Jacoby • Feb 18, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Hello Matt.
Great post but you forgot one of my favorites which is Herman Cain. He was very popular with the Republicans and if he had not run into the problems, whether they are true or not, he stood a great chance of becoming the second black president. So, I think we can put the race card into the shredder or down the toilet.
When people start spewing race around me, I realize they cannot discuss anything intelligently, thus they pull out the race card and wave it around. That way, they can divert attention from their lack of knowledge and get us out into defending our lack of racism. We are tired of it and those who use it in place of real issues.
I used to be a Democrat too, as was my whole family but not so anymore. All it took for that change to occur was to sit down and reason things out and dismiss the worn out rhetoric that republicans are all rich and hate the poor. I was sort of raised in that environment as were my parents but thanks be to God, the light finally came through.
Carole
Jorge Restrepo • Feb 16, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Preach on! It is true – the GOP has indeed declared a war on many specific demographics. The College Republican President’s outright, and mindless, bashing of the Occupy movement is merely a reflection of what the GOP has been pushing. The Fresno State Collegian’s constant censoring of news for non GOP affiliated folks is another example. Heck, even the open hate our ASI President Selena Farnesi has carried against Mexican Americans can be seen as a reflection of GOP policy. I can easily provide countless more examples.
Reed Wright • Feb 16, 2012 at 6:50 pm
You tell em Marshall! Ya know im a Republican, i attended Fresno State back in the 60s. I also live in Reedley. Recently we tried to fight the Fresno Board of Sup’s to strike down a Mexican Corporation called Cemex from building a mine in our County. Many of us came together Green Party, Libs, Tea Party, Dems and Republican. We knew the real issue at hand. And i look at last years issues at Fresno State where what seemed to be the College Republicans bashing Mexican immigrants and illegals. Hell, theres a corporation trying to blast our land here and pollute our precious land and these dummy students are worried about others taking thier seat in education. Why dont they come do something that is real fight and help us keep the Mexican based corporation out? Those college repubs seem like childish babies and need to come together like we did, we found a common ground and we will not stop fighting this outside corporation Cemex. I would sure like to see that fool Neil O No Brain guy over here really fighting and defending our freedom. Fight the real fights you young lads, and know that your country needs you to really wake up and unite.
Jasmine Marshall Armstrong, MFA 2010 • Feb 16, 2012 at 3:46 am
I read this letter with something of bemusement. This is because four years ago, when I was a graduate student at Fresno State, Barack Obama was running for president. I taught both Republican and Democrat students, as well as members of the Libertarian, Green and Peace and Freedom parties. I respected my students who were not the same political affiliation as myself, because one of the great things about America is freedom of speech. On election day, I wore an Obama shirt proudly, while some students wore McCain shirts, and one young lady wore a shirt with Sarah Palin pictured as the statue of liberty. What dismays me about this letter to the editor is that you use the same illogical and uncivil rhetoric towards those who someone has told you are your enemies, such as the Occupy movement. I would highly suggest that you read the works of Dr. Michael Rosenberg, a psychologist who pioneered nonviolent communication. He discusses “enemy images.” We are all susceptible to them, because we are all inundated by a 24 hour news cycle, the internet, the “lame stream” media (to borrow a phrase from your Ms. Palin), not to mention the parochialism of our parents’ political views, or what our pastor or priest might tell us at church.
I will be honest with you. I am a lifelong Democrat. I can remember Ronald Reagan as a child, and my memories of him are not positive, because I grew up in a working class family, where my parents often paid more taxes than those who made much more money, the supposed “job creators.” One of the major problems in our society today, which is a direct inheritance from your Mr. Ronald Reagan is materialism. You are likely too young to ever recall the 1980s. It was an era in which Gordon Gecco declared “Greed is Good” in the film “Wall Street.” Many took this as a personal mantra, not a warning. Look at the results.
I would also like you to know that I am a committed Christian, who reads my Bible frequently. I attended a Jesuit, Roman Catholic university where social justice was taught. I spent what little free time I had typically working with senior citizens, cleaning up beaches, tutoring children in Watts, and working with young people at Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles. Those memories are my most precious from my undergrad years.
However, I am saddened by the war that your party seems to have declared on people who are Muslim, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender or Bisexual, women who are feminists, the poor, the working class, and Mexican Americans. Not to mention powerful, smart and forthright black women like Michelle Obama. I’ve read the rhetoric and seen the cartoons.
I extend an olive branch to you, and members of the Republican Party. I would like you to know that I value your party’s part in American history. I would like to see more young Republicans evolve, as Barry Goldwater, the great senator (and presidential candidate) from Arizona did before his death. He, a westerner who believed in privacy rights, spoke out in support of the gay community. I wish he were alive today. He was the real deal as far as a Western Republican goes. Ronald Reagan was just a bad actor, who was good at delivering the right lines.
joshua4234 • Feb 15, 2012 at 1:29 am
Oh boo hoo, you get your feelings hurt by a school newspapers opinion comments. And common, saying the name Republican used to be attached to good people is meaningless to the state of the party today and ignores all the history in between. And essentially you went down to the “I totally have black friends” defense…it’s kind of hilarious. Statistically, women and minorities tend to lean Demoncratic, hell I think like 87% of Jews vote Democratic. This sort of argument doesn’t help your case.
And the rhetoric and insults and lies about Obama, or the actual liberals and progressives in the country, has been getting stronger for years. Even a supposed Dem leaning left(more like bankers’ shill) Rahm Emanuel got away with calling liberals “f-cking retarded.” And in your own comments you imply that the opposite party thinks minorities are stupid and can’t do their own finances, and claim others who disagree with you on campus are uneducated and biased. You are the height of hypocrisy. So sorry if I don’t give two sh-ts about your being appalled. Take your offense and shove it down your pompous, holier-than-thou throat.