Ronald Wilson Reagan
The man haunts minorities from the dead.
I'm sure I'll get some flack for speaking ill of the dead but he was a U.S. President and as such his legacy will forever be examined for it's pros and cons. In the case of minorities however, we just need to examine the cons because for us there were no pros.
Reagan biographers write that he opposed sanctions against South African apartheid, preferring a go-slow approach. He purged the civil rights commission, and initially approved tax exemptions for private, segregated colleges. During Reagan's term, job training and anti-poverty programs were reduced.
Slate Magazine's David Greenberg writes:
The current row is about interpreting Reagan's defense of "states' rights" and his choice of venue. Was this language, in this place, an endorsement of the white South's wish to reverse the 20-year-old trend of using federal laws (and troops when necessary) to protect the rights of African-Americans?
It was Reagan who rejuvenized the G.O.P. and created the space needed for George Bush I to shove conservative politics down the throats of minorities and dissolve many institutions which had been in place to safeguard minorities from unscrupulous and racist businesses and individuals, to include law enforcement (more on that later).
To date the Republican party still revels in the legacy of Reagan and defer to his tenure whenever seeking to energize their party's base.
His body may be dead, but his legacy on dealing with the underclass still rings loudly in the current White House.
Posted By: Curly Morris
Friday, August 22nd 2008 at 11:42PM
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