“The lesson from Charlottesville is not how dangerous the neo-Nazis are. It is the unmasking of the Republican party leadership,” former Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold wrote in a column published Saturday. “In the wake of last weekend’s horror and tragedy, let us finally, finally rip off the veneer that Trump’s affinity for white supremacy is distinct from the Republican agenda of voter suppression, renewed mass incarceration and the expulsion of immigrants.”
“There is a direct link between Trump’s comments this week and those policies,” Feingold continued, “So, where is the outrage about the latter? Where are the Republican leaders denouncing voter suppression as racist, un-American and dangerous? Where are the Republican leaders who are willing to call out the wink (and the direct endorsement) from President Trump to the white supremacists and acknowledge their own party’s record and stance on issues important to people of color as the real problem for our country?”
In the wake of Trump’s decision to blame “both sides” for the violence in Charlottesville, Va., many people (myself included) took issue with the implication that there was any moral equivalence between white nationalists, including neo-Nazis and the KKK, and peaceful protesters like Heather Heyer who showed up to oppose the demonstration. That was wrong. But, now, Feingold is almost explicitly arguing there’s a moral equivalence between white supremacists and mainstream Republicans.
“The white supremacist chant of, ‘You will not replace us,’ could easily and accurately be the slogan for these Republican politicians,” he claimed in his column. “Their policies will achieve the same racial outcome as Jim Crow – the disenfranchisement and marginalization of people of color.”
That charge is both disgusting and counterproductive.
Putting people of good will who support, for instance, immigration restrictions or voter ID laws, in the same moral category as actual white supremacists is absurd. The racists and bigots who marched in Charlottesville subscribe to a repugnant worldview that great Americans spilled blood to wipe out the world’s political mainstream. For Feingold to imply those beliefs live in the hearts of average Republicans is wrong and counterproductive.
I don’t agree at all that conservative policies harm minority populations, but one can at least reasonably make that argument without going over the top. It’s a whole different story to assert that concerns about electoral integrity, immigration, or crime are simply a veneer for underlying white supremacist views. Such smears are not helpful to the cause of eradicting hate and bigotry.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
