A San Bernardino County, California Republican group has distributed a newsletter picturing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on a $10 bill adorned with a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken.
Linking Senator Obama to demeaning racist stereotypes drew denunciations from various Republican officials after the illustration appeared in the October newsletter of the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated, a Riverside, California newspaper reported Thursday.
The newsletter was sent to club members and associates last week by mail and e-mail. The club is a volunteer group that is not directly responsible to the state party, said California Republican Party press secretary, who denounced the newsletter.
The president of the group said she had no racist intent. "I never connected," she told the newspaper. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else." She said she had received the illustration in e-mails and decided to reprint it to poke fun at a remark by Obama that he doesn’t look like other presidents.
The newsletter, says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of "Obama Bucks" -- a phony $10 bill featuring Obama's face on a donkey's body, labeled "United States Food Stamps." Does that sound like she didn’t know what she was doing?
She said she also wasn't trying to make a statement linking Obama and food stamps, although her introductory text to the illustration connects the two: "Obama talks about all those presidents that got their names on bills. If elected, what bill would he be on????? Food Stamps, what else!"
Yeah, that really sounds like she didn’t connect this to racism. I have been reading way too many blogs with this kind of junk. And when they are called out on it they claim ignorance. Ignorance is when you don’t know something. Stupid is when you know better and still do something.
Sheila Raines., a Black member of the club, complained about the image to the president of the club. "This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party," she said. "I'm really hurt." Ms. Raines said she has worked hard to try to convince other minorities to join the Republican Party and now she feels betrayed.
The newsletter prompted a rebuke from another Black member of the organization. Acquanetta Warren, a Fontana councilwoman, who said the item is rude and requires a public apology. "When I opened that up and saw it, I said, 'Why did they do this? It doesn't even reflect our principles and values,' " Ms. Warren, who served as a Republican delegate to the national convention in September and is a regional vice chairwoman for the California Republican Party. "I know a lot of the ladies in that club and they're fantastic. They're volunteers. They really care -- some of them go to my church."
My advice to you both is to stop being pals with people who view other people in such a negative manner.
Warren forwarded an electronic version of the newsletter to the California Republican Party headquarters, where officials also were outraged Wednesday and denounced the illustration.
Hector Barajas, the party's press secretary, will attend the statewide California Federation of Republican Women conference this weekend in Los Angeles to handle any news media there to cover the controversy.
The newsletter is not the first such episode Mr. Barajas has had to respond to this week. The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday posted an image it said was captured from the Sacramento County Republican Web site that showed Senator Obama in a turban next to Osama bin Laden.
It said: "The difference between Osama and Obama is just a little B.S." The site also encouraged members to "Waterboard Barack Obama," a reference to a torture technique. The Sacramento County party took down the material Tuesday AFTER being criticized.
Mark Kirk, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County Republican chairman, said these kinds of depictions hurt the party's ongoing efforts to reach out to minorities. You think.
State Senator Bob Dutton, a Republican from Rancho Cucamonga, criticized the illustration as inappropriate and irresponsible. He pointed out that his wife, a member of the club, is of Mexican heritage and has battled criticism that the Republican Party is not the party for minorities. The club's newsletter undercuts efforts to rise above racism, he said.
As we get closer to this historic election it seems that we are seeing more and more of these kinds of attacks. Let's come together as a country and speak out against this negativism and talk about the issues. It's imperative that people speak out about these kinds of depictions no matter how small the organization. And this group says this supports the Republican effort in California - in what way? Are these the values they want to teach to their children?
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