Sorry bout the length, but I think this is apropos...
Reagan, Race and Remembrance
Reflections on the American Divide
by Tim Wise
If one needs any more evidence that whites and people
of color live in two totally different places,
politically and psychically, one need only look at the
visual evidence provided by the death of Ronald
Reagan.
More to the point, all one needs to know about this
man and his Presidency can be gleaned by looking even
haphazardly at the racial and ethnic makeup of the
crowds flocking to his ranch, or his library to pay
tribute. So too will it be apparent from the
assemblage lining the streets of DC for his funeral
procession, or gathering in the Capitol Rotunda to pay
respects to their departed hero.
They are, and will be - in case you missed it or are
waiting for the safest prediction in the history of
prognostication - white. Far whiter, one should point
out, than the nation over which Reagan presided, and
even more so than the nation into whose soil he will
be deposited within a matter of days.
While persons of color make up approximately 30
percent of the population of the United States, the
Reagan faithful look like another country altogether.
As they gathered in Simi Valley - home of the 40th
President's library, as well as the jury that thought
nothing of the police beating of Rodney King - one
wonders if they noticed the incongruity between
themselves and the rest of the state in which they
live: a state called California, where people like
them are slightly less than half the population now.
Doubtful. Most of them, after all, are quite used to
never seeing black and brown folks, since the vast
majority of whites live in communities with virtually
no people of color around them.
That the mourners wouldnıt notice the overwhelming
monochromy of their throng is no surprise. But it has
been more than a little interesting that no intrepid
reporter - or at least someone pretending to be such a
creature - has thought to ask the obvious question
about the racial makeup of those losing sleep over the
death of Ronald Reagan, versus those who frankly
arenıt.
After all, there are really only two possible
interpretations of the sanguine reaction by people of
color to Reaganıs death: namely, either black and
brown folks are poster children for insensitivity, or
perhaps they know something that white folks donıt, or
would rather ignore.
The former of these is not likely, after all,
millions of black folks actually forgave George
Wallace for Godıs sake when he did a partial mea culpa
for his racist past before his death, but the latter
is as certain as rain in Seattle.
What white folks ignore, but what most black folks can
never forget, is how Reagan opposed the Civil Rights
Act at the time of its passage, calling it an
unwarranted intrusion on the rights of businesses, and
never repudiated his former stand.
Or that as Governor of California, Reagan dismissed
the struggle for fair and open housing, by saying that
blacks were just ³making trouble² and had no intention
of moving into mostly white neighborhoods.
Perhaps they have a hard time forgetting that of all
the places Reagan could have begun his campaign for
the Presidency in 1980, he had to choose Philadelphia,
Mississippi: a town famous only for the 1964 murder of
three civil rights workers. And perhaps they recall
that the focus of his speech that day was ³stateıs
rights,² a longstanding white code for rolling back
civil rights gains and longing for the days of
segregation.
Maybe they have burned in their memories the way
Reagan attacked welfare programs with stories of
³strapping young bucks² buying T-Bone steaks, while
hardworking taxpayers could only afford hamburger, or
how Reagan fabricated a story about a ³welfare queen²
from Chicago with 80 names, 30 addresses, and 12
Social Security cards, receiving over $150,000 in
tax-free income. That Reagan picked Chicago as the
site of this entirely fictional woman, and not some
mostly white rural area where there were plenty of
welfare recipients too, was hardly lost on African
Americans.
Perhaps black folks and other people of color remember
the words of former Reagan Education Secretary Terrell
Bell, who noted in his memoir how racial slurs were
common among the ³Great Communicatorıs² White House
staffers, including common references to Martin
Lucifer Coon, and ³sand niggers.²
Perhaps they recall that Reagan supported tax
exemptions for schools that discriminated openly
against blacks.
Perhaps they recall how his Administration cut funds
for community health centers by 18 percent, denying
three-quarters-of-a-million people access to services;
how they cut federal housing assistance by two-thirds,
resulting in the loss of about 200,000 affordable
units for renters in urban areas.
Or how Reagan opposed sanctions against the racist
South African regime, and even denied that apartheid,
under which system blacks could not vote, was racist,
noting that its policies were ³more tribal than
racial.²
And it isnıt surprising that few if any Salvadorans or
Guatemalans who came to the U.S. in the 1980s, fleeing
from violence in their countries, were to be seen
placing flowers outside Reaganıs library either.
After all, the former were forced to seek refuge here
precisely because Reagan was so intent on funneling
money and arms to the murderous death-squad
governments who were responsible for killing so many
of their countrymen and women; and the latter no doubt
recall how Reagan brushed off the genocidal policies
of Guatemalan dictator Rios Montt - whose scorched
earth tactics, especially against the nation's
indigenous resulted in at least 70,000 deaths - by
saying he was getting a ³bum rap² on human rights, and
was instead a man of ³great personal commitment,² who
was dedicated to ³social justice.²
That whites would view much of this as irrelevant,
even whining or sour grapes on the part of communities
of color, is only proof positive that for many if not
most such folks, the opinions of, and even the
humanity of black and brown persons with whom they
share a nation is of secondary importance to the fact
that Reagan - as many have been gushing these past few
days ³made them feel good again.²
But how can healthy people feel good about a leader
who does and says the kinds of things mentioned above?
Obviously the answer is by denying that racism
matters, or that its victims count for anything. Even
more cynically, it is no doubt true that for many of
them, it was precisely Reaganıs policy of hostility to
people of color that made them feel good in the first
place. By 1980, most whites were already tiring of
civil rights and were looking for someone who would
take their minds off such troubling concepts as
racism, and instead implore them to ³greatness,²
however defined, and ³pride,² however defined, and
flag waving.
Whites have long been more enamored of style than
substance, of fiction than fact, of fantasy than
reality. Itıs why we have clung so tenaciously to the
utterly preposterous version of our national history
peddled by textbooks for so long; and itıs why we get
so angry when anyone tries to offer a correction.
Itıs why we choose to believe the lie about the U.S.
being a shining city on a hill, rather than a
potentially great but thoroughly flawed place built on
the ruins and graves of Native peoples, built by the
labor of enslaved Africans, enlarged by theft and
murder and an absolute disregard for non-European
lives.
As Randall Robinson points out in his recent book,
Quitting America, when such subjects are broached, the
operative response from much of the white tribe is
little more than, ³Oh, that.²
Yes white man, that. That exactly. That thing we were
raised to gloss over, to speak of in hushed tones, as
if by our diminished volume or failure to audibilize
it, it will go away; that perhaps they will forget
about it, and instead join with us in praise of our
country, since that is most definitely how so many of
us envision it.
White people, especially those who are upper-middle
class and above, have no reason on Earth to be aware
of the truth, let alone to dwell on it. The truth is,
after all, so messy, so littered with the bodies of
dead Nicaraguans, and dead Haitians murdered by
Duvalier while Reagan stood by him; so soiled by his
support for Saddam Hussein. Better to ignore all that,
and to go mushy before the pictures of Reagan in his
cowboy hat, to remember a President who, for all of
his murderous policies abroad and contempt for
millions at home, at least never got a blow job in the
Oval Office.
This is the twisted psychosis of growing up
privileged, as a member of the dominant group: a group
that must view their nation as fair and just, as a
place struck off by the literal hand of God, as a
place where ³average² guys like Ronald Reagan can
become ³great leaders.² As a place where an ³aw
shucks² smile, and a profound lack of knowledge about
the details of public policy, or even the names of
foreign leaders, is not only not cause for
embarrassment, but yet another good reason to vote for
someone; where refusing to read up on important policy
details prior to a key international meeting so one
can watch The Sound of Music on TV, is seen as
endearing rather than cause for a recall.
This is why we get people like George W. Bush, for
those who havenıt figured it out yet. Oh sure, vote
fraud and a pliant Supreme Court help, but were it not
for the love affair white Americans have with
mediocrity posing as leadership, things never could
have gotten this far.
Itıs why a bona fide moron like Tom DeLay can brag
about not having a passport (because, after all, why
would anyone want to travel abroad and leave
³Amurca,² even for a day) and not be seen as the
epitome of a blithering idiot, and why he could
probably be elected again and again in thousands of
white dominated congressional districts in this
country, and not merely in Texas.
Having to grapple with the real world is stressful,
and people with relative power and privilege never
know how to deal with stress very well. As such, they
long for and applaud easy answers for the stress that
occasionally manages to intrude upon their lives: so
they blame people of color for high taxes, failing
schools, crime, drugs, and jobs they didnıt get; they
blame terrorism on ³evil,² and the notion that they
hate our freedoms: a belief one can only have if one
really thinks one lives in a free country in the first
place.
In other words, delusion is both the fuel that propels
people like Ronald Reagan forward in political life,
and then makes a rational assessment of his legacy
impossible upon his death.
I think this is why so many white people remember him
fondly, and are truly crestfallen at the thought of
his physical obsolescence: simply put, much of white
America needs Ronald Reagan; a father figure to tell
them everything is going to be O.K.; a kindly old
Wizard of Oz, to assure them that image and reality
are one, even when the more cerebral parts of our
beings tend towards an opposite conclusion.
With Reagan gone, maintaining the illusion becomes
more difficult.
But knowing white folks, -I am after all one of them,
and have been surrounded by them all of my life- I
have little doubt that where thereıs a will to remain
in la-la land, we will surely find a way.
Reagan has been released from the lie, finally, and
may his soul find peace among the millions of dearly
departed victims of his policies around the world.
Meanwhile, the rest of us must pull back the curtain
on all phony heroes, Reagan among them, lest we create
many millions more.
how about a link next time, anthony?
Posted by flatulus at June 16, 2004 07:29 AMapologize, but didn't have a link it was an email.
Posted by anthony at June 16, 2004 07:48 AMIt will be interesting to see if the CFG goes after Specter again in the general election. I hope they do, and Hoeffle benefits.
I'd love to see the Kudlow explanation, after the election, of why a Dem victory in PA that leads to Dem control of the Senate is a good thing for the Repubs.
I would be sweet as well if Nancy publicly requested that the CFG ads be withdrawn, and even sweeter if she sued to stop it. Not sure she 'owns' the Reagan image, but fun anyway.
As Bush's negatives grow and 'supporters' in Congress stop referring to him to save their own hide, I sure hope the CFG spends lots of money to 'purify' the Repub. party, and that they are successful. I'd be happy with the Repubs reduced to their 'base' of 35% or so.
Posted by JimPortlandOR at June 16, 2004 07:53 AMJim
I heard on Capitol Report on CNBC that the Reagan Family had complained. This dKos diary has the same thing but again no link.