Posted on 07/24/2007 9:12:57 AM PDT by hardback
Ask many Americans what first comes to mind when you mention the name of Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani and most are likely to recount the heroic image of Giuliani, covered in white ash from debris, bravely walking through rubble-filled streets of lower Manhattan moments after the towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.
At least that's the image most white Americans are likely to have. The man even received honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his role in the wake of the attacks.
But many blacks, particularly those who witnessed Giuliani firsthand during his two terms as mayor of New York, have a different image of him entirely.
As much as Giuliani may have hoped to reinvent himself in those horrific moments after the terrorist attacks, the former mayor had a long, often thorny history leading up to that moment, a history rife with racial divisiveness that soured many black New Yorkers. It likely comes as no surprise to them that his presidential campaign is the only one that is run entirely by whites, as revealed in "Which Presidential Campaign Is Worst for Diversity?" in DiversityInc's June 2007 issue.
And in case anyone had forgotten, a recent article in The New York Times painstakingly recounts many of Giuliani's less-than-stellar moments working with, and in many cases working against, black leaders while he served as mayor. While some dubbed Giuliani a racist for his actions, others said he was simply pragmatic to a fault.
"I never thought Rudy Giuliani was a racist," Fran Reiter, one of Giuliani's deputy mayors, told the Times. "But he was obsessed with the notion there were certain groups he couldn't win over. And he wasn't even going to try."
In a recent Gallup Poll, nearly nine in 10 black registered voters (88 percent) say they would vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton if the presidential election were held today. Only 8 percent would vote for Giuliani. Of course, it must be factored in that most of the blacks participating in the poll identified themselves as Democrats, yet it is still indicative of Giuliani's lack of support away from his white base.
From his leading on a group of drunken cops screaming racist chants directed at New York's first black mayor, David Dinkins, in 1992 to his repeated refusal to meet with members of the black community, many blacks felt at best tuned out by an administration that made no attempt to understand their concerns.
Even the lies told about Giuliani during his term can be telling. In 1997, Giuliani was embroiled in one of the gravest crises of his tenure when Haitian immigrant Abner Louima was sodomized with a broken broomstick by white members of the NYPD. As horrific as that event was, tensions were further inflamed in the black community when word spread that one of the officers involved in the assault shouted out "It's Giuliani Time" during the attack.
The claim turned out to be false. But the phrase lingered because many in the black community felt it captured the mindset of police at the time, given carte blanche by Giuliani to impose their will.
According to the Times, Giuliani rarely discusses issues of race on the campaign trail. And when he has discussed race, as he did with the New York Daily News in 1999, he professes ignorance on why blacks don't understand his methods.
"In the case of the African-American community, I understand it really well. There's no point trying to educate people that I'm not a racist any more than I'm not a criminal," he said. "If people can't figure me out, that's their problem."
Even if Giuliani had the right positions, this shows why he is not presidential material. He lacks tact of any kind.
Media afraid of Rudy?
Why would I believe anything from a website called “diversity.com”?
And the poverty pimps used this regularly to try and paint him as anti-black.
Now why would blacks have an anti-Rudy attitude? I just don't know.
Looky here:
The average blacks is a bigot who think that all white republicans are racists.
And he should “reach out” to them? Why?
"In the case of the African-American community, I understand it really well. There's no point trying to educate people that I'm not a racist any more than I'm not a criminal," he said. "If people can't figure me out, that's their problem."
If the GOP wants to continue garnering conservative voters, the last thing Republicans should be doing is pushing this liberal for the nomination.
Since blacks are not going to vote GOP anyway, why do we care how they see him, or any ‘Pubbie candidate?
The New York Times painstakingly recounts many of Giuliani's less-than-stellar moments working with, and in many cases working against, black leaders while he served as mayor. While some dubbed Giuliani a racist for his actions, others said he was simply pragmatic to a fault.
I don't see Giuliani as tactless here at all. He's just running up against the diversity police. An any leader that is "tough on crime" will not get the black/O.J. was innocent vote.
White Rich liberals think of Giliani as a good mayor; black liberals think of Rudy as a anti-black racist: SO What?
PULEEZ. Good GOd the lengths people go to to put this man down.
Newsflash, by Southern society standards, every New Yorker is tactless, because being so direct and unreserved is not a value that is held down here. Working class folks are different, but middle and upper class southerners don’t respond well to brashness.
Attitude wise, Giuliani is no different than Biden, he has a tendency to shout off at the mouth, he makes no attempt to cloak his words in any air of civility that is the common standard of Southern speech. And that is a problem, because Rudy has to appeal to people who are used to that in order to win the nomination. Florida, well, Florida was a state that until 10 years ago had a political leadership that spoke entirely with a southern accent. And they are older people. New Yorkers may like his brashness, but the people who weren’t raised in an ethnic Brooklyn neighborhood will be put off, and actually, that’s most of Florida.
Hillary was able to sell in New York, because while she was a carpetbagger, she was as rude and cold as native New Yorkers are stereotyped to be. So she fits in perfectly with the people who are her base. Reagan may have talked tough, but he never came off as arrogant. Rudy comes of as an arrogant man any time you follow him, and I would say normally the adultery wouildn’t be an issue, except for the fact that his kids won’t talk to him. You can clearly look at the man and see he is not fit to be president.
People want a little humility in a president, and I’ve seen Rudy show nothing of the kind, if anything, he’s a hands on everything kind of guy. That’s a great quality to have when running New York, it’s the wrong quality to have when running a country.
And it comes as no surprise that these diversity people and African-American "leaders" (aka race baiters) have never noticed that the Bush Admin has appointed African-Americans to higher positions than any admin in the history of the USA!
I am so sick of these "diversity" race baiters. The GOP should indeed ignore them. In their mind if you don't offer larger amounts of narcotic welfare, then you hate blacks. Pffffffffffttt!
Exactly!
Working with black leaders means that one take seriously someone like Al Sharpton. Working with Sharpton would have meant failure to establish civil peace in New York. He is the equivalent of Arafat.
Great quote! I'm not necessarily a Rudy fan either but I apprecaite what he is saying here. Too bad most whites don't follow suit. Instead they spend all their time either apologizing or backing up whenever the racist word is thrown out. Too many whites are wimps and appeasers when it come to race.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.