By today’s standards he seems mild. Even Obama praised him. Along with Lincoln, Republicans trot Ronald Reagan out every time Democrats praise the communication wizardry of Obama, Clinton, or Kennedy,
By today’s standards he seems mild. Even Obama praised him. Along with Lincoln, Republicans trot Ronald Reagan out every time Democrats praise the communication wizardry of Obama, Clinton, or Kennedy,
By today’s standards he seems mild. Even Obama praised him. Along with Lincoln, Republicans trot Ronald Reagan out every time Democrats praise the communication wizardry of Obama, Clinton, or Kennedy, or the stalwart composition of FDR or integrity of Truman. In reality, Reagan was an impenetrable facade of congeniality who was quite hostile to civil rights.
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Reagan's rhetoric surrounding welfare programs and his portrayal of "welfare queens" perpetuated racial stereotypes.
To many it sounded like code for announcing himself as the candidate for white segregationists. Indeed, during his campaign for the Presidency, the Ku Klux Klan endorsed Reagan (after his Philadelphia MS speech). Reagan only repudiated the endorsement under pressure.
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By the time Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency in 1980, the Republican Party had firmly established its hold on white Southerners. He won.
After he defeated President Carter, a native Southerner, Reagan led an administration that seemed to cater to Southerners still angry over the passage of the Civil Rights Act after 16 years.
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The Reagan team condemned busing for school integration, opposed affirmative action and even threatened to veto a proposed extension of the Voting Rights Act (the sequel to the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed a year later and focused on election participation).
Again, his emphasis on "states' rights" was seen as a veiled reference to opposing civil rights legislation and appealing to white voters who were resistant to desegregation efforts.
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During his presidency, Ronald Reagan's justice department aligned itself with segregationists by offering support to Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist institution that sought federal funds despite practicing racial discrimination. In 1983, when the Supreme Court ruled against Bob Jones, Reagan responded by significantly weakening the Civil Rights Commission as an act of retaliation.
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Critics argue that Ronald Reagan utilized the War on Drugs as a racially charged wedge issue, contributing to racial disparities within the criminal justice system. Reagan's administration implemented policies that disproportionately targeted minority communities, particularly African-Americans.
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One notable aspect was the differential treatment between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, signed into law by Reagan, established significantly harsher penalties for crack cocaine, which was more prevalent in low-income urban communities, predominantly impacting African-Americans.
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The sentencing disparities resulted in disproportionate rates of incarceration for African-Americans, perpetuating racial inequalities within the criminal justice system. Critics argue that Reagan's administration, through its rhetoric and policies, perpetuated racial stereotypes and contributed to the stigmatization and criminalization of minority communities, further exacerbating existing racial divides.
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In 1971, the day after the United Nations voted to recognize the People’s Republic of China, then–California Governor Ronald Reagan phoned President Richard Nixon at the White House and vented his frustration at the delegates who had sided against the United States.
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#BlackMastodon“Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did,” Reagan said.
“Yeah,” Nixon interjected. Reagan forged ahead with his complaint:
“To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!”
Nixon gave a huge laugh.
https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/white-house-tapes/013
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Ronald Reagan’s use of racist dog whistles during his political campaigns was primarily through the use of coded language and symbolic gestures that appealed to racial biases and fears without explicitly mentioning race.
These tactics allowed Reagan to tap into racial resentments and gain support from white voters who harbored racial biases, effectively leveraging racist dog whistles to advance his political agenda.
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Resources
https://millercenter.org/president/reagan
https://www.politico.com/story/2008/07/obama-keeps-returning-to-reagan-011875?_amp=true
http://hnn.us/articles/5605.html
https://www.c-span.org/video/?293124-1/ronald-reagans-neshoba-county-speech
https://www.c-span.org/video/?293124-1/ronald-reagans-neshoba-county-speech
https://policing.umhistorylabs.lsa.umich.edu/s/crackdowndetroit/page/reagan-s-national-drug-strategy
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@Deglassco So important to remember that so much of the shit that we are in today is because of this fucker.