Arizona Republican National Committeeman tries to show solidarity with the ‘brown people’ in his city.
Arizona Republican National Committeeman tries to show solidarity with the ‘brown people’ in his city.
Arizona Republican National Committeeman Bruce Ash recently called in to the radio show of right-wing host Jon Justice — who has been called the “Rush Limbaugh of Tucson” — to take issue with local Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers’ opposition to a city ballot initiative. Ash said that Rogers doesn’t understand levels of crime in the city. To show how aware he is personally, Ash recounted some of his conversations with the city’s “brown people”:
I listen to the event and I heard the argument, and what was really truly amazing to me, Jon, was the pomposity that Jeff Rogers displayed. He sits in his little house in midtown with his kids who go to school, with his little job, and his job as the Democrat county chairman, and he is blind to all of the crime that is going on in this city.
It’s maybe not happening in his little neighborhood, but you ask any of the brown people who live on the South Side, or the West Side, or the South Central side of Tuscon, and they will tell you, in no uncertain terms, the fear they have getting in their car, walking in the street, and sometimes just sitting in their house.
Listen here:
The Arizona blog Rum, Romanism and Rebellion gives Ash the benefit of the doubt and says it might not have been blatant racism. However, the site says that Ash’s “sudden care for ‘brown people’ on the South Side” comes off as “good old fashioned patronizing and nothing more.” Huffington Post blogger Marlene Phillips also notes that crime statistics don’t support Ash’s claim that crime is higher in the city’s Hispanic neighborhoods. (HT: AMERICAblog)
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Yeah, that’s pretty damn bigoted. It’s akin to a turn of the 20th century white politician trying to curry favour with black voters by patting the heads of black children in a carefully arranged photo op.
Somehow, I don’t see too many “brown people” supporting the Arizona GOP
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:04 amBrown people?
The GOP has cornered the market on alienating anyone who’s NOT white and racist.
Mucking forons.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:05 amThis person is disrespectful of all but his own. Republicans that can’t pronounce democratic because they use democrat in a derogatory manner do not deserve to be treated well and should be called out publicly for their rudeness.
Same times ten for his blatant racism.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:06 amWell, look, anyone who can’t tell the difference between a noun (”Democrat”) and an adjective (”Democratic”) is surely not bright enough to know when to use racist language (when in the company of like-minded racists) and when not to (on radio talk show that is heard in public).
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:09 amevery time i see democrat i think republican`ts
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 amAnyone minority that lives here in Arizona is not surprised by statements like this, after all, we were the last state in the union to honor the Martin Luther King holiday. We only did that because the NFL said no Super Bowl would be awarded to Arizona until we did.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:13 amevery time i see democrat i think republican`ts
It’s good that these pencil-necked right-wing reactionaries have “tells” like this. Their language gives them away. It can all be traced back to FoxSnooze, Limpballs, Seanie Vanity and Glenda BeckyBoy. That’s all you need to know in order to write off anything else they have to say.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:14 amWhat an a-hole…
Our local elections are today.
Not one repiggie gets my vote.
Not one…
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:15 amCalling Latinos “brown people” is offensive. They deserve more respect than that. I wouldn’t call Justice Sonamayor or a Latino representive that, it would be rude.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:16 amThe racist old spirit of Evan Meecham lives on in the hearts and minds of the Arizona GOP.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:16 amRight wingers get upset when we point out their racism, often while claiming they said nothing racist. Then why was it necessary to refer to anyone by the color of his skin? Why were they “brown people” and not just “people”? I think the reason is because that’s the way people like Ash see people, as people with the color skin they have, and not just as “people” like everyone else. They need to find some way to distinguish themselves from the people of whom they are speaking, and skin color is the easiest way for their shallow minds to make that distinction. But because they are otherwise ignorant in so many other things, too, they are unable to understand why this is racism (to differentiate people according to their race).
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:17 amThe repiggie party these days is for thick stupid white people who are frightened to death of people with darker skin, other languages and healthier food.
The meanest and most obtuse people that I know these days are partisan repiggies.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:19 amOh, but I’m sure that his very best friends are …brown people!!
/snark
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:21 amWTF is William the Bloody doing in AZ?
Time to kick some Ash in Tucson!
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 amIt’s maybe not happening in his little neighborhood, but you ask any of the brown people who live on the South Side, or the West Side, or the South Central side of Tuscon….
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:27 amWords fail me at the bigotry.
Another good comment from Wayne at @11.
The repugs are so ignorant, they don’t even realize how bigoted they are.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 am“I was taken out of context! Waaaaah!!”
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:34 am~Teabagging Talking Point # 451,989
This is in line with good old Republican “paternalist racism“: [Republican President] Taft told [Republican] President McKinley that “our little brown brothers” would need “fifty or one hundred years” of close supervision “to develop anything resembling Anglo-Saxon political principles and skills.”
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:35 amIf you’re brown, stick around.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 amI wonder if Ash, like The Drugster, feels President Obama has a huge ego & is narcissistic.
Can you believe it? The Drugster, claiming someone else has a huge ego, apparently has never looked in a mirror.
Judging from his weight loss, The Drugster must be back on them…
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:39 amThe Rush Limpballs of Tucson?!? Is that something people aspire to? Kind of a cut rate local bigot with a less expensive chemical addiction? I have this image of some sleaze in a dingy studio with stained carpet ranting and raving while trying to hide his case a day Schlitz habit.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:44 amThese guys are so racist, that they don’t actually realize that they’re racist.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:46 amThe bigotry is so offensive that it overshadows the belittling of the candidate that Ash-hole indulges in.
“His little neighborhood”? Who is he? Mr. Rogers?
“He sits in his little house in midtown with his kids who go to school, with his little job”
WTF is that about? “His kids who go to school”?
It’s just amazing how Republicans will stick with their pre-programmed strategies even when they’ve got no ammunition. They’ll just keep pulling that trigger on the pop gun, even after they’ve run out of ping pong balls.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:49 amI agree with “Fred.” (#3) Ash’s pomposity outweighs his prejudice.
Go NFL!! Leading the fight against racism (and Limbagh)!
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:50 amMaybe when they insist that liberals are really the racists, it’s because their definition of “racist” is anyone who think all races should be treated equally and have the same opportunities.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:51 amracists never do. That’s why it’s funny to hear them say “I’m not a racist”
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:51 amIf you’re holding meetings specifically with “brown people”
If you’re citing that you heard this from “brown people”
If you’re saying that some of your best friends are “brown people”
Then its gonna look like you’re covering up and racially compensating.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 am“his little neighborhood”?? “his little house”?? “his little job”??
And this guy is calling someone else pompous????
This guy is an “Ash”.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 amFred says:
That’s why it’s funny to hear them say “I’m not a racist”
Indeed. And when they say that, it’s usually followed with: “Some of my friends are [fill-in-the-blank-with-some-color-other-than-white].” Kinds of reminds me of James Watt of the Reagan era.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:38 amralph the wonder llama says:
Maybe when they insist that liberals are really the racists, it’s because their definition of “racist” is anyone who think all races should be treated equally and have the same opportunities.
Yes, it wouldn’t surprise me that conservatives don’t actually know what the word racist means. Of course, even if they did, they’d just say it was an elitist term and redefine it.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:41 amThat’s the modern repub party for you. They really know how to win over a key demographic.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:44 amYeah, that’s the ticket! They need to bring the “browns” and the idiots together.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:48 amYeah, it’s racism. It’s more the ’soft’ racism of paternalism and simple-minded stereotyping than the ‘hard’ racism of de jure segregation and harassment, but give him a chance. Unchecked, he’ll become as rabidassed as any race hater.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:56 amoh yeah. one more thing. “solidarity”? you mean the large rock which has displaced the vacuum between his ears?
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 amWhat was Watt’s definition of diversity? “A black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple”?
Wasn’t that how it went?
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:02 pmHe meant to say “little brown people.”
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:06 pmSome of my best friends are racists. ; )
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:18 pmSo….if there are Brown people there is rampant crime? Is that what he is saying?
Typical Repuke…you know White People don’t do crimes….now do they?
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm(face-palm)
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:56 pmAmazing, simply amazing. We’ve now gone from specific bigotry to generalized bigotry. What a giant leap for the Republicans. Backwards.
Someone ought to tell Ash that the only folks using the phrase “brown people” are Liberals, in pointing out what the GOP thinks of anyone who isn’t white. Duh!
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:53 pm@ 34. I really have to stop posting comments before my third cup of coffee. You can’t displace a vacuum – there’s nothing there to displace. All you can do is fill the void. Anyway, Mr. Ash still has a rock in his head, and the less said about the displacement the better. I’m sure all the gearheads and motor head trolls out there want to know how many cubic inches, but that’s both finite and incalculable…
(heh heh, put snark in gear, release clutch…)
November 4th, 2009 at 1:08 am