I’ve done several tours of duty in the culture wars. I spent a good chunk of the 80s working with conservative and traditional family values organizations in support of President Reagan and in rallying opposition to the agenda of the Tip O’Neill House and the Teddy Kennedy/Robert Byrd Senate.Â
So I’m no stranger to having ideological opponents impute the worst possible motives to me and my friends in our public policy stances. For example:
- When I have expressed concern for the unborn from a human rights and civil rights standpoint, I have been told that I really am only interested in keeping women in thier barefoot-and-pregnant place. (i.e., “You just hate women.”)
- When I have opposed federal welfare programs on the grounds that they lead to dependency, undermine the family structure and have other unintended negative consequences I have been told that my real reasons are only greed and coldheartedness. (i.e., “You just hate poor people.”)
- When I have expressed concern that redefining marriage to include same-sex couples will put the culture on a slippery slope toward the complete dissolution of the family structure, carrying with it disastrous long-term effects for our nation, I have told that I really suffer from a mental pathology (homophobia). (i.e., “You just hate gay people.”)
Thus it didn’t come as much of a surprise today to find a syndicated columnist labeling everyone who opposes the current immigration reform boondoggle as racists. What dropped jaws all over the country today was that the accuser wasn’t some lefty nutroots bomb-thrower. It was prominent conservative columnist Linda Chavez.
Chavez pretty much came out and said to everyone who has voiced opposition to the bill, “You just hate brown people.” Think I’m exaggerating? Read it for yourself:
Some people just don’t like Mexicans — or anyone else from south of the border. They think Latinos are freeloaders and welfare cheats who are too lazy to learn English. They think Latinos have too many babies, and that Latino kids will dumb down our schools. They think Latinos are dirty, diseased, indolent and more prone to criminal behavior. They think Latinos are just too different from us ever to become real Americans. . . Stripped bare, this is what the current debate on immigration reform is all about. Fear of “the other”. . .
Earlier today, I sent the following email response to Ms. Chavez in response to her column:
Linda, I thought you should know some mean-spirited liberal prankster has posted an editorial under your name. The lack of intellectual rigor, the straw-mannish caricatures, and the standard attack on the good will and good faith of the huge segment of conservatives who, like me, have qualms about the current immigration reform bill was a dead give away.Â
You should alert the Townhall webmaster immediately that someone who thinks like Michael Moore has hacked your blog.
I have not received a reply but, judging by some of the reaction I’ve been reading, she may be a little swamped.