Rep. Tony Cornish is a Republican who epitomizes the modern problem his party has. They've become so infiltrated by racism, they don't hear themselves say it anymore, and blindly defend it when they get caught. Cornish, a man I've affectionately labeled 'Clown Car,' proved this point today with a racist and tone deaf op-ed piece posted by the Star Tribune.
I'm not going to post a link to the op-ed. I don't want to reward the Star Tribune with clicks for their irresponsible and reckless decision to print such garbage. This paper is a hollow shell of the journalistic integrity they used to strive for. They knew they'd get attention if they printed this racist screed, so they did, trying to make the pathetic argument "we're encouraging a discussion." No, you're validating racism. In the past, the Strib would've printed it, but not in the op-ed section. They would've taken Cornish's racism, handed it over to a real journalist in their Political department, and would've written a front page story calling out Rep. Cornish. I'll quote his letter here, but you can find it yourself.
Let's start with the dog whistle nature of the letter. Cornish uses code words he's clearly directing at the African American community, but he's smart enough to not scream the 'n-word,' like his questionable supporters want him to. These simpletons make biased comments in moron secret code, acting as if they've amassed a worldly knowledge on minorities, emboldened by Fox News and a right leading media who treats white America's racism and bigotry as thoughtful historic observation, and scientifically proven fact. "Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh said my uneducated xenophobic prejudice is correct, so it MUST be true." I wonder what they'd think if inner city minorities came into their communities and started authoritatively telling them about the problems with their way of life, and how they need to take responsibility for their circumstances, regardless of origin.
Clown Car's op-ed is a short letter, labeled as 'advice to help people interact with police better.' It starts by referring to recent activity by advocacy groups, groups who've been asking how we can reduce the use of force by police. It then transforms into a cesspool of ignorance; thoughtless wisdom, infused with segregationist approved narration, presented in bullet point form. Proof of his intent lies in his first bullet point: "Don't be a thug." 'Thug' is a term the racist right freely uses to describe black men. It's a clear signal to whom Cornish is addressing his 'advice' to.
Other foolish nuggets from Clown Car range from bone stupid right wing 'common sense' ("don't rob people") to endorsing the rescinding of people's civil and constitutional rights (obey all police commands even when you've done nothing wrong and are minding your own business), to advocating totalitarianism (2 AM mandatory curfew?). His final point is another directive clearly geared towards African Americans. Cornish, who's a MN Representative, a person who can actually help address societal problems, seems to have no concern about the lack of education and jobs in minority communities, only that the minority community shouldn't use the lack of education and jobs to validate bad behavior.
Cornish's next paragraph is predictable. Realizing he's written an unforgivably racist canon, he writes a paragraph to try to disguise his obscene racism, insisting his upbringing (apparently the inspiration for The X-Files 'Home' episode) didn't stop him from becoming a Representative. It's the old "I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, so you need to fend for yourselves" parable. He's trying to justify his critique by portraying it as coming from an 'authority,' while at the same time, activating the racist secret code. His supporters then defend him, insisting his thin veil of homespun sludge is a solid resume of credentials, while they silently cheer on the intolerance he proudly waves in 'those people's' faces.
He closes out his letter with the most dickish cherry on top of his jackass sundae: "Here endeth the lesson. No charge." The image the Star Tribune decided to attach to this letter was of police officers arresting a black silhouette, adding more insult to injury.
But that's not where Cornish's lesson endeth. When everyone started screaming WTF, he proudly defended his letter, admitting he wrote it directly in response to Nekima Levy-Pounds, the head of the Minneapolis NAACP, a group who's been asking "how can we stop racial profiling and police violence?" By admitting this, Cornish acknowledged his letter was written with African American's in mind, and he specifically geared his comments to the black community. Clown Car freely admits his letter was racist.
Tony Cornish is a racist pig. His attitude and public opinion are an embarrassment to the state of Minnesota.
Representative, judging from your unintelligent thoughts, the lesson is clearly not ended, but only beginning. As far as you not charging of your 'advice,' your validation of innocent African American, Latino, Native American, and lower income blood spilled, targeted unfairly by police though racial profiling and harassment, comes at too high of a price.
What was the intent of his letter? What was his purpose for writing it? His "Here endeth the lesson. No charge." condescending closing statement clearly displays what Cornish was after. Cornish wrote this letter to rile up the people that think (and look) like him and to take a middle finger poke in the eye at those that don't. Is that what Mr. Cornish was elected to do--inflame and divide? Minnesotans should be embarrassed to be represented by someone so shallow who writes thinly-concealed racist garbage like this.
ReplyDeleteMatt - How can we get you back on mornings? I miss listening to you on my drive to work!