Is Ron Paul a racist?

The newsletters, opposition to Civil Rights Act, no gold medal for Rosa Parks, Don Black donation..Is this enough to prosecute Ron Paul as a racist. Or is this just slander and speculation?

Were you intending to be sarcastic?

At this stage I'll simply ask: who cares?

-Jon

No, all of that is soundly libertarian. Why should businesses be forced to accept business from minorities if they don't want to? The CRA is probably unconstitutional. Why should the federal government provide a gold medal for Rosa Parks? Is that the proper role of government? The newsletters not written by Ron Paul... who cares? The Don Black donation... so DB thought RP was tough on immigration, when in reality Ron Paul advocated the rule of law but at the same time wanted immigration restrictions relaxed (which Don Black and stormfront probably wouldn't be too happy about). At the same time, many stormfronters support Ron Paul because of his stance against NAFTA. The other side of the coin shows that Ron Paul is against NAFTA because it subsidizes some businesses and isn't truly free trade: he would get rid of "trade agreements" and genuinely engage in free trade by lowering or even eliminating tariffs.

Ron Paul is a true minarchist from the social contract perspective, IMO, but I don't think many people actually realize that. He seems to genuinely believe that everyone has natural rights, some of which must be given up for government. At the same time, he seems to believe in less government at all fronts which shows his minarchist colors.

no

RP was correct on all the above stated issues.  And who cares anyways?  Hopefully those of us in this community are above branding others with Marxist nonsense terms ending with "ist" or inventing "isms."

krazy kaju:

Ron Paul is a true minarchist from the social contract perspective, IMO, but I don't think many people actually realize that. He seems to genuinely believe that everyone has natural rights, some of which must be given up for government. At the same time, he seems to believe in less government at all fronts which shows his minarchist colors.

There is no proof of this.  In fact, if you listen to is rhetoric, particularly his post campaign rhetoric, it's hard to distinguish him from many other libertarians.  He's avoided talking policy, about political change, and seems to be speaking much more philosophically.

To some people, if you're not a flaming anarchist, then you're a statist.  At 72, I think Paul has learned how to be soft spoken and selective about his beliefs.

 

The Newsletters

They were not penned by him, though they have his name written on it.  However, he take full responsibility for what was said, and recants much of it.  This happened nearly 20 years ago, and to my knowledge, there hasn't been a recurrance.

 

Oppositions to Civil Rights Act

He was not in office when the original act went through, but voted NO on its commemoration decades later.  Many of the provisions Civil Rights Act were unconstitutional, not to mention harmful towards private property.  Suffice it to say, if we turned to and enforced the constitution with respect to individual rights, the Civil Rights Act would have never been necessary.  It is not necessary.

 

No Gold Medal for Rosa Parks

He suggested that each of the congressmen pitch in, rather than spend the taxpayers money.  It was also not within the jurisdiction of Congress, hence unconstitutional.

 

Don Black

Ron Paul protects the individual rights of individuals, even racists.  Don Black knew what he was giving his money to, it was his choice to support whoever he likes.

 

Not Racist at all.

liberty student:

To some people, if you're not a flaming anarchist, then you're a statist.  At 72, I think Paul has learned how to be soft spoken and selective about his beliefs.

Was that sarcastic? Anyway, I loved it when he talked against the Cuba embargo and minimum wage in the Florida debate. Boy, he got more hisses then than the all other debates together about such things as the Iraq war. :)

To the original poster: I think others already addressed your points (e.g. he always suggests for congressmen to pay for medals from their own pockets; he of course votes against being charitable with other people's money), but it puzzles me that you suggest someone should be prosecuted for being a racist. It might not be nice, and you might not want to associate yourself with such a person, but as long as they don't practice it, and keep it to themselves, you're just going to create more hatred and solidify their belief system if you go on chasing them.

wowdavidp1:

Is this enough to prosecute Ron Paul as a racist.

 

LOL

Was that sarcastic? Anyway, I loved it when he talked against the Cuba embargo and minimum wage in the Florida debate. Boy, he got more hisses then than the all other debates together about such things as the Iraq war. :)

Wow, so they hissed at lifting embargoes on a communist country, yet they have no problem with communism in the USA? Cognitive dissonance, much?

-Jon

I think we had a similar thread a while ago.

wowdavidp1:

The newsletters, opposition to Civil Rights Act, no gold medal for Rosa Parks, Don Black donation..Is this enough to prosecute Ron Paul as a racist. Or is this just slander and speculation?

Could you show me any incident where calling someone else racist wasn't slander at all?

But let's look what they have. What statement/action of him do the consider "being racist"?

With all these "Ron Paul is a racist" comments, I've been waiting for someone to come along and say "Ron Paul is an anti-semite", so I can post a picture of his office with drawn-in red circles around the pictures of Ludwig Von Mises and Murray Rothbard on his wall and say, "His biggest heroes are Jews."

 

No takers yet though.  Although, I'm kind of expecting it, since claims of anti-semitism and racism seem to go hand-in-hand.

Fephisto:

With all these "Ron Paul is a racist" comments, I've been waiting for someone to come along and say "Ron Paul is an anti-semite", so I can post a picture of his office with drawn-in red circles around the pictures of Ludwig Von Mises and Murray Rothbard on his wall and say, "His biggest heroes are Jews."

 

No takers yet though.  Although, I'm kind of expecting it, since claims of anti-semitism and racism seem to go hand-in-hand.

Actually, there were claims (I don't know how mainstream) calling Ron Paul an anti-semite mainly due to his lack of support for Israel and his Nazi/nationalist supporters.

Jon Irenicus:

Was that sarcastic? Anyway, I loved it when he talked against the Cuba embargo and minimum wage in the Florida debate. Boy, he got more hisses then than the all other debates together about such things as the Iraq war. :)

Wow, so they hissed at lifting embargoes on a communist country, yet they have no problem with communism in the USA? Cognitive dissonance, much?

-Jon

 

Haha, so, so true. I think many people don't even realize that the minimum wage was actually an invention of Marx. He argued that unions were good because they prevented wages from falling below what Marx would arbitrarily consider "proper" during times of recession.

ViennaSausage:

Oppositions to Civil Rights Act

He was not in office when the original act went through, but voted NO on its commemoration decades later.  Many of the provisions Civil Rights Act were unconstitutional, not to mention harmful towards private property.  Suffice it to say, if we turned to and enforced the constitution with respect to individual rights, the Civil Rights Act would have never been necessary.  It is not necessary.

There is a whole list of "Civil Rights Acts" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act. I suspect it's the one of 1991 and that it is about the issue of (racial, etc.) "discrimination" in employment relationships.

ViennaSausage:

No Gold Medal for Rosa Parks

He suggested that each of the congressmen pitch in, rather than spend the taxpayers money.  It was also not within the jurisdiction of Congress, hence unconstitutional.

Exactly, for what is the congress giving gold medals anyway. Voting? Taxpaying?

ViennaSausage:

Don Black

Ron Paul protects the individual rights of individuals, even racists.  Don Black knew what he was giving his money to, it was his choice to support whoever he likes.

Exactly. But it's an issue if A supports B and A as bad, then there must be something wrong with B as well. Guilty by assossiation kind of thing.

ViennaSausage:

The Newsletters

They were not penned by him, though they have his name written on it.  However, he take full responsibility for what was said, and recants much of it.  This happened nearly 20 years ago, and to my knowledge, there hasn't been a recurrance.

... I do not see any reasons for recanting anything, just because some people think it's not cute. To quote from the newsletter:

A mob of black demonstrators, led by the "Rev." Al Sharpton, occupied and closed the Statue of Liberty recently, demanding that New York be renamed Martin Luther King City "to reclaim it for our people."

Hmmm. I hate to agree with the Rev. Al, but maybe a name change is in order. Welfaria? Zooville? Rapetown? Dirtburg? Lazyopolis?

But Al, the Statue of Liberty? Next time, hold that demonstration at a food stamp bureau or a crack house. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/8/185438/7845/186/433066

That is more an issue of certain minorities abusing the system. If the writer is racist, then he is a selective racist.

ViennaSausage:

Not Racist at all.

But could someone please explain what the conditions are for not being suspected of "racism"?

Torsten:

 But could someone please explain what the conditions are for not being suspected of "racism"?

You're not considered racist if you hate white people and call for the abolition of the white race (i.e. Noel Ignatiev).

This is a sad, sad world, isn't it?

Geez. I think the word racist is thrown around way too much.

Racist: No

Statist: Yes

Like many people here, I don't care if Ron Paul is a racist.  If you hate the Japanese, but promote individual property rights for them and everyone else, this is hardly my problem.

My problem with Ron Paul is much more one of political activity, and minarchism.  I think his strategic approach is fundamentally retarded.