Viewpoints: Racist cartoon of Obama forces me to leave GOP

SacBee.com ^ | 6/12/2011

[Altura Ct.]

I was one of those rare species: a black Republican, the guy willing to spit into the wind of conventional thought, who was often showcased on camera at party events to prove inclusiveness.

But as a proud black man, I can no longer be a member of the Republican Party.

Being a Republican has long been a part of my personal and professional identities, so leaving the party is a difficult and emotional decision.

In 1998, as a young man searching for what I believed were shared values, I cut ties with the Democratic Party and became a Republican. Democrats, in my view, had become unwelcoming to those holding center-right views not in lockstep with the party, and it was my belief that through hard work, the Republican Party could be utilized as a vehicle for improving our community.

For the next 13 years, I dedicated myself to growing the conservative base of the Republican Party, and in the process bound myself in emotion and deed.

...Ken Barnes is a small-business owner in Sacramento and a member of the executive committee of the California State Conference of the NAACP.

[Reagan69]

Or Condi Rice, or Clarence Thomas....

[papageo]

Who ever this clown is, he lying through his teeth. That picture has been around for months. It has nothing to do with race. It’s all about ideology. They are all socialist being depicted. Tell the race baiting creep to F—k off.

[darkwing104]

Let me check my meter...

I thought so...

[freejohn]

I would like to get windflier’s take on this.

(haven’t read through all the posts yet so maybe he has responded already?)

[Zionist Conspirator]

So a cartoon depicting Obama as a chimp is "racist" but eight years of depicting Bush as a chimp isn't? Why? Besides, I thought we all "came from monkeys."

The Dems will never apologize for a single cartoon, ethnic slur, or attack. Ever. I find this author's hypocrisy overwhelming.

[TigersEye]

I didn’t realize that 0bama looked so much like George Bush! LOLOL

[re_nortex]

NAACP member and a conservative black?

As a member of the NAACP, I'm sure he's very proud to be associated with Democrat Fred Phelps and Westboro goons. Yes, old Fred, a civil rights attorney, has been the recipient of awards from the NAACP and similar other such racist outfits.

And need I go into the Communist links to the NAACP? Just study its origins -- it's more than just W.E.B. DuBois, a lot of other fellow travelers, too.

[papageo]

Who ever this clown is, he lying through his teeth. That picture has been around for months. It has nothing to do with race. It’s all about ideology. They are all socialist being depicted. Tell the race baiting creep to F—k off.

[Venturer]

I would say you probably hit the nail on the head.

If one cartooon that isn’t even pictured with the article, and is not sponsored in any way by the GOP, can drive this guy away he wasn’t much to begin with

[TexasFreeper2009]

lol

That is EXACTLY the picture I was thinking of!!!

Either this guy is dishonest (most likely) or he hasn't been paying attention the last decade to politics. OR, he just hold us to a different standard (possible, since all blacks feel they are entitled to special treatment, because of past history)

[JoeProBono]

[fish hawk]

Sac.Bee...LOL. I bet this whole thing is a cock and Bull story, mostly bull. Hard to believe there is a black republican in the whole damn state let alone Sacramento. If Calif. needed an enema (and it does) they would stick the nozzle in Sacramento.

[5thGenTexan]

So, he cannot look his parents in the eye and tell them he is a member of a party that has one county offical with the bad judgement to not know that she could not mock this president the way the previous president was for eight years, but he had no trouble telling them for years that he was a member of the party that FORMED THE KKK?!?!?

[so_real]

Holy Crow! This is AWESOME. If this fella is playing the race card for sympathy, he is at best a RINO and at worst a liberal plant. If we can get those types to leave the Republican party en-masse of their own free will, we won't have to start a third party afterall. We'll be able to reclaim "Republicanism". That will save us a lot of time and work. Someone please thank that jack-wagon and hold the door so it doesn't smack him on his way out. And whatever we cooked up to deserve this gift, serve some more up for the rest of them to feast upon.

[dandiegirl]

If Republican candidates can’t stand up to the fake race card then they just aren’t strong enough to be president. They need to go Donald on anyone that suggests they are racist. In other words, stand up for yourself.

[MNDude]

Several articles from him but you have to pay $3 to see them. From the small abstracts I’ve seen, none scream republican

[mreerm]

makes sense to me. racism displayed by a few members of the republican party, so resign from the republican party. hey...wait a minute...aren’t they also a few members of the human race? wonder what he’s going to do with that???

[fish hawk]

Hey Mr. Barnes, you wimpy gutless wonder. I'm an American Indian and you should hear and see what we have put up with, yes, right here on FR. It's got a lot of fair minded thinking people but I've got racist flack here for a long time. It's mostly about Casinos and taxes , which of course is the White Mans own fault as he created the problem.

I don't have much love for the Republican Party as well as he Democrat Party. I'm registered Republican but ashamed to go around bragging about it. I tell people I'm a Tea Party Conservative.

[mas cerveza por favor]

Given the caliber of Republican he hangs out with, I can almost understand why he wanted to leave the party.

Then again, maybe the demography of his district is just shifting to Democrat.

[EDINVA]

Thanks. AS IF ... I’d spend $3!!! Was just curious about how the SacBee might be using him. Not that the MSM would ever do anything like that.