Republican Conservatism and Prejudice

Republican Conservatism and Prejudice

September 10, 2012

Dear Hank,

There’s an interesting parallel between prejudice and the Republican view of helping people.

It hadn’t really occurred to me until last week when I heard the personal stories from people at the Republican Convention of how Mitt Romney had helped them. Their stories were touching and showed how helpful Mitt could be to someone in trouble. It reminded me of an anecdote that was in Tip O’Neil’s autobiography Man of the House. O’Neil served 34 years in Congress and was Speaker of The House from 1977 to 1987. He had worked with every president from FDR to Reagan.

O’Neil recounted George Bush wanted to help an individual that he knew who was in trouble. I think the person was in Bush’s presidential entourage. Bush wanted to get some money together to help this fellow because he had fallen into a difficult situation. Bush was caring and compassionate toward this person O’Neil recounted; yet, a month before Bush had blocked a bill that would have helped people like this fellow - people like him, people in a similar situation.

When I was in college I took a course on race relations. It was an interesting course. There are a number of things I still remember from that course. One of those things was a fact about prejudice: a person can hate a whole group (blacks, Irish, Catholics) but make an exception for someone they know from that group that they despise. i.e. That’s old Joe. He’s different than the rest of them blackies. etc.

Why is that? The most obvious answer is that you know that person - either on a personal level or perhaps the person is a performer like Sammy Davis, Jr. or Charlie Pride. Yet, they can ascribe various negative traits to the group as a whole. (An interesting corollary to this is that putting people who are prejudiced toward each other in a situation of equal status where they have to work together will reduce their prejudice.)

What I see and hear many conservatives and Republicans doing is saying they are more than willing to help someone they know, but someone they don’t? - screw ‘em.

The odd thing is when I’ve heard some of the more rabid of these sorts of people talking about their own lives and the struggles they’ve had from poverty they recount using some of the very things that they wish to wipe out.

Such as Glenn Beck’s comment that he went to the library where books are free. 

There was another one that said he didn’t ask for anyone’s help. They went on food stamps. 

Cases like this point out the very nature of the problem that I see. An unwillingness to help those they don’t know and an ignorance that they have been helped by people who don’t know them. Yet, perfectly willing to help someone they do know.

Gotta go,

Bryce