Principled Conservatives: The GOP does not speak for you
Dear moderate Republican/principled conservative friends and neighbors,
If you have ever found yourself in the last few years having to make excuses for your party like, “Well, that’s not REALLY racist,” this post is for you. If you have ever said, “This is nothing new, both parties are equally racist,” this post is for you. And if you have ever said something like, “I don’t see what the big deal is. Most people don’t pay attention to the tweets,” this post is definitely for you, because this issue is affects all of us and here is why.
Yesterday, the President told 4 sitting members of Congress (all black or brown women, 3 of whom were born in the United States) to “go back” to where they are from. This morning, former Virginia Attorney General and Acting Director of USCIS Ken Cuccinelli, when asked about these comments, said, “So what?” and that the tweets were not racist. So far, no Republican members of Congress have condemned this. Let’s be very clear about this, because there should be no debate. Telling an American citizen of color that they should “go back” to where they are from is unequivocally RACIST.
If you do not look “ethnic” you may have never experienced this, but I have, from the time I was a child all the way to my campaign for US Congress. As someone who was born in America, grew up my whole life in Texas, served our country overseas for over 14 years, and risked his life for our country while doing so, it is bad enough when a fellow citizen questions whether I am a “foreigner,” much less my own elected Representative in Congress, who last year used a racial slur to paint me as not being from here.
When the President of the United States makes directly racist comments, they are not “just tweets.” Every person in America with racial resentment who sees these official statements of the U.S. government is being incited. Every child who sees their parents stay silent about this will learn that this is normal. And everyone who was ever singled out for their race, like I was when teacher said to me in a high school class, “Everyone in this room is of European descent, except for you Sri. What race are you?” knows that people in positions of power, elected by their friends and neighbors, feel the same way. (By the way, my response in high school: “I consider myself part of the human race.”) The day after the election in 2016, numerous black and brown friends of mine were taunted that night to get out of the country, because “we won,” as they would yell from cars, sometimes waving symbols like the Confederate flag. Staying silent at this point endangers our children and our society.
Open acceptance and promotion of racial stereotypes are at the heart of why I chose to resign from the Foreign Service rather than serve this administration, and why I will replace my member of Congress by defeating him in the November 2020 election. Let’s be clear. No one would claim that we haven’t had bigotry throughout our history, or that we are going to solve all of this with one election. However, a PLURALISTIC democracy, where everyone is treated equally regardless of their ethnicity/faith/gender, is so fundamental to the concept of America that any elected official who promotes stereotypes against whole groups of people is literally betraying our country.
Accusing the first black President of faking his birth certificate is not a policy difference. Calling to ban all people of a certain faith from America is not a policy difference. Saying a Latino judge cannot rule on a fraud case is not a policy difference. Calling attendees at a Nazi rally where a woman was murdered “very fine people” is not a policy difference. While many of these things were condemned by Republicans at the time (Ted Cruz opposed Trump’s call to ban all Muslims, Paul Ryan described Trump’s actions as “textbook racism.” Numerous Republicans condemned the comments after Charlottesville. Lindsay Graham at one point during the campaign called him a “race baiting xenophobic bigot”), none of these elected officials ever made this an issue worth fighting the Republican base over, and the party has gradually accepted a new normal of open bigotry, which has nothing to do with conservatism.
Regardless of how you feel about taxes, regulation, immigration, the environment, health care, gun ownership, reproductive rights; no matter whether you consider yourself conservative, centrist, or neither; we should all be able to recognize that something very disturbing has happened to the Republican Party which has nothing to do with these policy differences. Can any reasonable Republican claim that George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, or Ronald Reagan would have used their position to openly promote bigotry like this? By accepting this, the Republican Party is accepting that we can REVERSE progress towards equality.
No Republicans condemned the President for calling African nations “sh!&hole” countries or African-American athletes “sons of b!&ches.” No Republicans condemned the President for doubling down on calling for 5 minority youths who were EXONERATED to still be PUT TO DEATH. On Sunday, when the President made an explicitly racist official statement of the U.S. government, not a single GOP Congressman or Senator condemned it. All people of conscience should call this by its name. It’s stereotyping, it’s bigotry, and it’s racism. If we don’t call this out, we are sending a message to our children that this is acceptable in America in 2019. It is not.
For any of you who say, “That’s not the Republican Party, it’s just Trump,” unfortunately this is not the case. It’s also about still sitting Member of Congress Steve King, who said there is nothing wrong with white supremacy. It’s Tucker Carlson saying he’d vote for a President who promised to kill as many Muslims as he can. It’s the Tarrant County GOP trying to kick out their Vice Chair because of his religion. It’s a member of the Texas GOP platform committee saying he is a white nationalist and “proud of it.” It’s an elected member of the school board in Fort Bend posting that non-Christians say Jesus was a liar. It’s my Congressman, Pete Olson, saying that one of the reasons not to vote for me is because I am “Indo-American,” telling voters that I get my money “from overseas,” lying about 9/11 to stir tensions between groups of immigrants, pushing George Soros conspiracy theories the same week that a man who believed such conspiracy theories (that wealthy Jews are funding the “replacement” of white people with brown people) killed 8 Jews in a synagogue. It’s white nationalist attacks far outnumbering any attacks by brown people in America and the GOP not saying anything about the former.
69% of this country is women or minorities. As representation of women and minorities among Democrats in Congress increased to 61% for the first time this year, Republicans have REDUCED their diversity, with white males now making up 90% of GOP members of Congress. This is not just a statistical anomaly. There is a reason that every single Asian-American elected to Congress or the Senate is Democrat. The GOP has a problem with race, and it’s growing.
And no, “He appointed Ben Carson to the cabinet” or “Pete Olson showed up at a Indian festival in Indian clothes” is not a response to this issue. To be clear, inviting some religious minorities to one’s office or having a minority friend does not make up for using your official position to promote bigotry at a campaign rally. At a Diwali fesitval, when Pete Olson was asked why he called me an “Indo-American carpetbagger,” (a Civil War term that means someone not from here) he actually told the student, “It’s not racism, it’s just politics.” Whether it’s Pete Olson telling voters I’m not from Texas or President Trump telling four minority female members of Congress to leave the country, the message is clear: we are less American than them. Our answer should be just as clear: truly representing America means standing up for ALL Americans, every day.
My final message is specifically to those of you who consider yourselves principled conservatives. The current Republican Party doesn’t speak for you. So, don’t let them. If you reject this bigotry, speak up. Demand that Republican leaders reject it too. And if they won’t, let’s vote them out together. You can walk away from the Republican Party, like so many principled conservatives already have. Sit down with folks like me on the other side of the aisle and let’s discuss our policy differences like adults. Let’s start acting like people who live in a society and disagree on some things, but still agree on a fundamental principle: America is truly great when we judge people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Before we start finding things to disagree on, let’s first first agree to treat every individual with dignity and respect.
