Georgia Republican Candidate To Black Democrat: You Can Dust Off ‘The Color Purple’ But You Won’t Win
Richard Woods, the Georgia Republican nominee for state schools superintendent, referenced “The Color Purple” while campaigning against a black candidate at the monthly breakfast meeting of the Cobb Republican Party. Woods blasted the U.S. Department of Education and called for an emphasis on reading, writing and arithmetic, then for some reason decided to refer to the 1985 movie about a 14-year-old black girl growing up in Georgia in the 1900s.
Everlasting GOP Stoppers reports the quote:
“They may dust off their copies of their VHS copies of ‘The Color Purple,’ but it isn’t going to happen, all right? We are going to remain Republican red in our state, and we’re going to move this state forward so that we can do the very best, and again, I look forward to being your next state school superintendent of schools,” He said.
“We have to make sure that our kids know our history. They are going to know the true American history,” Woods said. “It will not be liberalism, it will not be progressivism, but it will be something that is based on our Founding Fathers. It will be the Constitution, it will be the Declaration of Independence, it will be the Federalist Papers. We will teach the truth, because last time I heard, the truth will set you free, OK?”
Woods is campaigning against Valarie Wilson, a former chairwoman of the Decatur school board.
Marietta Daily Journal reports that Attorney Kenya Pierre of Smyrna, a Democrat running for the Post 2 seat on the Cobb Board of Education, was not pleased by Woods’ remarks.
“I have no idea what VHS tapes or ‘The Color Purple’ or anything has to do with bettering education for our children,” Pierre said. “To bring ‘The Color Purple’ in, it makes me wonder: ‘What are you alluding to?’ Are you alluding to you want things to be back the way they were where slavery was dominant? Are you alluding to the fact that you don’t want diversity within your state where there was a separation of what African- Americans could do and could not do? I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know what that has to do with anything, and I think if we’re talking about education, then maybe we need him to be a little bit more educated in the history of this nation and how horrific a time that was.”
GOP Stoppers reports:
When Woods’ comments were called out, Susan Thayer, another Georgia Republican running for a county school board seat said,
“Because you know red and blue combined makes purple, so that’s what I thought, but that was the way I took it that we don’t need to become purple. We need to maintain our red Republican influence.”
Either way, it’s a reckless remark to make. Next he’ll be standing tall, whistling Dixie as if it’s the National Anthem.
The GOP’s plan for outreach to minorities is working out swimmingly.
H/T: Everlasting GOP Stoppers.
Images: AJC, Naturally Moi
KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker August 9th, 2014 at 9:30 am
Republicans all know that racism motivates the rightwing base.
They’re just not hiding it anymore.
Steph August 9th, 2014 at 9:47 am
It not only motivates the RW base, but it tends to intimidate any people of color from voting-or even running in some cases. You really have to hand it to the Right–they are experts in power through fear.
fairmont66 August 9th, 2014 at 10:01 am
it’s not intimidating no one. If it did we would be saying President McCain or President Romney by now.
jasperjava August 9th, 2014 at 10:20 am
That $hit doesn’t work in big national races, but can influence the outcome in state and local contests.
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:59 pm
I disagree. It does intimidate individuals who feel powerless – which is what the Republican Party tries to do. And now that Ted Nugent (old Crappy Pants) speaks for the GOP, we can add the Native Americans to the “Groups the Cons Hate” list.
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:57 pm
The open racism disgusts me. We always know that deep down in their nasty little souls the South HATES the African American people. Of course now they have become the Party of Inclusion so they have recently included the Browns.
Racial hatred is just repulsive … sort of like the Republican Party at this point.
burqa August 9th, 2014 at 8:44 pm
I am Southern and I don’t hate African Americans. I tend to avoid stereotyping such a large and diverse population, because the South, like other areas of the country, has people of all political stripes and backgrounds. That kind of stereotyping is the result of weak, lazy thinking.
Sure, conservatives are in the majority down South, but there are millions on the Left down here that you sweep up in your stereotype.
Our entire country has trouble with race. I’ve run into more than a few racists in New England and recall watching the race riots of the 60s in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Gary and New York. I recall seeing opposition to busing and affirmative action in the North as well.
It seems that just about every time the FBI busts a white supremacist group, they are in a state outside Dixie, such as Montana, Minnesota or Idaho.
So let’s not blame one region for something horrid that infects the whole country.
And if we oppose bigotry, let’s be sure we don’t practice it ourselves.
linann.singh@yahoo.com August 9th, 2014 at 9:59 am
Woody, you shouldn’t use ” A Birth of an Nation” as your bible.
Linda1961 August 9th, 2014 at 9:59 am
I hope this backfires and he loses.
fairmont66 August 9th, 2014 at 10:00 am
Priebus how is that rebranding thingy going for YA? the autopsy has returned and the results are:your party is STILL racist as hell! the republican theme song is still playing:YES WE KLAN!
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
What’s going to happen when Bed, Bath and Beyond run out of WHITE SHEETS?
Larry Schmitt August 9th, 2014 at 10:03 am
It’s the only movie he knows of with a black man in it. Besides Gone With the Wind.
RK Johnston August 9th, 2014 at 11:10 am
And perhaps Birth Of a Nation.
Very popular among folks of his mindset!
–RkJ
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:55 pm
Didn’t Shirley Temple make a movie with “Stepen Fetchit”? Way back in the 30’s? The Cons probably LOVE that movie because of the way he could dance, like a good slave.
Larry Schmitt August 9th, 2014 at 1:06 pm
That was Bojangles Robinson, the famous dance on the staircase.
Larry Schmitt August 9th, 2014 at 10:09 am
Why do so many conservatives use the word “progressive” like it’s a bad thing? Here’s one definition: “A person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties.” Now who can argue with that?
uzza August 9th, 2014 at 10:46 am
Conservatives.
M D Reese August 9th, 2014 at 12:19 pm
They hate freedom and democracy.
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:54 pm
Unless it is for them only.
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:54 pm
Old white guys who hate … but they are equal opportunity haters. Give them credit. They hate the “Japs”, they hate the “Browns” and they especially hate the “Blahs”….. They hate non-Christians … They hate women. They especially hate elderly sick people and dying children with cancer.
The ONLY thing the Cons love is “fetuses”.
Larry Schmitt August 9th, 2014 at 1:08 pm
The only children they like are the unborn. Once they’re actually people, they’re on their own. Sorry, didn’t see the last part of your post.
burqa August 9th, 2014 at 8:30 pm
Unfortunately, hatred is not bound by political ideology. On the Left we have people who hate Jews, Christians and Southerners, to name a few. Their bigotry is every bit as ugly as the bigotry found on the Right. Switch the targets of their ire and in many cases they otherwise sound the same.
Take a look around, you’ll find such bigots right here, getting a pass from fellow liberals.
viva_democracy August 9th, 2014 at 6:44 pm
Well, since they long for the days of the 1950’s, “progressive” IS a scary word to them. They are the party of the way, way back.
uzza August 9th, 2014 at 10:45 am
They are going to know the true American history,” Woods said. “It will not be liberalism, it will not be progressivism”,
“No, dumbshit”, replied his history teacher, “nor will it be Hinduism or Magnetism or Algebra or Physics. It will be History. Go report to your Remedial English class.”
Larry Schmitt August 9th, 2014 at 11:33 am
He means their version of history, where minorities need not apply.
arc99 August 9th, 2014 at 11:01 am
So a film with an all black cast is used as an example of something negative by a Republican running for elective office. Yet far too many conservatives still have their craniums shoved up their butts when it comes to the very real racism which permeates their side of the political spectrum.
As the saying goes, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
The solution is to vote Democratic which black folks are doing to the tune of 90%. And like I said before, it ain’t because we want “free stuff”. It is because we see what is right in front of our faces, no matter how many “acceptable” blacks like Ben Carson or Herman Cain are trotted out.
The black electorate does not need conservatives to tell us who to vote for. We can figure that out quite nicely on our own, what is in our best interests. As long as the GOP has to reach back 150 years to appeal to black voters, but cannot cite a single policy on their current agenda, eventually even they will figure out that just might have something to do with the fact they only get 10% of the vote.
M D Reese August 9th, 2014 at 12:18 pm
Well said.
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:52 pm
On the other hand (and I agree with your statements) there is a segment of the population who, for whatever reason, are still afraid to take a stand. Intimidation by whites can frighten and drive elderly African Americans away from the voting booths. Remember, the Civil Rights Act wasn’t that long ago .. and many older people have not forgotten (nor do they think it’s over) the way they and their families were treated in the past. The “backdoor” efforts to create poll taxes, demanding birth certificates as “proof of citizenship” from someone who is in their 90’s and has voted for 40years, is simply an example of RACIAL HATRED which is rampant in this country.
The cons are trying to “educate” the black voters because they believe they are so stupid that they’ll believe cretins like Herman Cain and Ben Carson. Like you, I believe the Cons underestimate the community.
arc99 August 9th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
The Voting Rights Act was passed using the explicit authority granted to Congress under the 15th amendment. Yet, these so-called “strict constructionists” were celebrating the Supreme Court decision striking down parts of the law based on criteria that appear nowhere in the Constitution. Nothing in the 15th amendment requires Congress to periodically review the laws they pass under section 2 of that amendment.
This is the 15th amendment in its entirety. Anybody who thinks the court made the correct ruling, please cite exactly where you find the Constitutional basis for that ruling. Your whining about the President not following the Constitution gets zero sympathy from me, since clearly it is critics of the President who are most likely to toss the Constitution in the trash, when it suits their agenda.
AMENDMENT XV
SECTION. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
SECTION. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
TheAmused August 9th, 2014 at 10:03 pm
I know several people who actually marched with MLK, Jr. in Montgomery. One of my former co-workers still has dog-bite scars from Selma. Even she’s getting tired of running the gauntlet to get to the voting machines since she gets challenged every single time she shows up–with a retired dependent military ID card and a passport.
tiredoftea August 10th, 2014 at 1:58 am
How sad that we have slipped backwards in such important ways.
raincheck1956 August 10th, 2014 at 9:45 am
Yes… very sad indeed. And it seemed to happen so quickly!
tiredoftea August 10th, 2014 at 11:40 am
The people who want cultural stagnation are persistent.
burqa August 9th, 2014 at 8:20 pm
Excellent points.
While the Democratic Party gets 90% or so of the black vote, I wonder how many registered African American voters actually vote? The reason I ask is a few years ago I saw the numbers and, in Mississippi, at least, there were more registered black voters than white ones. My memory is not so clear, the numbers I saw may have been African Americans who were elligible to vote.
If the GOP passes voter ID laws, then the Democrats need to get out there and get people IDs.
You are of course correct about the safe haven the GOP gives to racists, but it is doubted here they will ever do anything about it any more than the Democrats will do anything about the bigots who are on our side. For the most part, Republicans will complain about the bigots on the Left and do nothing about the bigots on the Right, and the Democrats will complain about the bigots on the right but give the same free pass to the bigots on the Left.
There are not many on either side who are consistent and oppose bigotry regardless of whether the bigot is on the Left or Right.
raincheck1956 August 10th, 2014 at 9:43 am
There does however, seem to be a greater concentration of them (bigots) on the right
fancypants August 10th, 2014 at 2:15 am
No wonder Georgia always gets blown off while the pres votes are being counted. The rest of the nation already knows this state will always throw away their vote for what right for the nation.
arc99 August 9th, 2014 at 11:13 am
make sure that the “true” American history includes the Georgia secession statement prior to the civil war. so that all students of all races have a clear understanding of what that stars and bars flag stands for. a$$hole.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_geosec.asp
Confederate States of America – Georgia Secession
The prohibition of slavery in the Territories, hostility to it everywhere, the equality of the black and white races, disregard of all constitutional guarantees it its favor, were boldly proclaimed by its leaders and applauded by its followers.
With these principles on their banners and these utterances on their lips the majority of the people of the North demand that we shall receive them as our rulers.
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:47 pm
The south never accepted the basic principles/concepts of them losing the Civil War. They stuffed their hatred and racism deep inside where it became part of their DNA….growing more vicious and disgusting year after year. Now the South is basically a completely separate country – seething in hatred and raging internally against anyone who is not white.
Pathetic.
burqa August 9th, 2014 at 8:10 pm
Oh, we are quite aware of the facts and circumstances of that war. Since most of it was fought on Southern soil, that was where most of the destruction took place as entire cities were burned to the ground, famine took place when all the food was looted along with livestock and anything of value inside homes, and infrastructure was likewise destroyed. I am in Fredericksburg, at the moment, the site of one of the few battles that took place inside a city. Evidence of the fighting is seen everywhere, if one knows what to look for, such as huge gaps in city blocks where antebellum homes once stood, but were destroyed when the city was indiscriminately bombarded. It was a war fought against our civilians as much as the Confederate armies in the field. In places like Loudon County, where federal troops entered towns greeted by cheering, supportive crowds, those same people got to see their homes looted and put to the torch anyway and all their livestock, food and everything else of value carried off. According to Bruce Catton, the promise of looting was one way those troops were recruited.
Of course the North, which chose to have slavery after it was banned in the South, never paid such a price for practicing slavery.
It is not a region “seething in hatred and raging…” as you claim. It is quite lovely, and happens to be the part of the country where more people migrate to than any other.
Your inaccurate stereotype does not include the millions of liberals who live here, but that would tend to ruin your hatred of millions of fellow Americans.
One imagines such bigotry is something you need to hold on to.
Kinda wacky seeing a bigot complaining about someone else’s bigotry, but there you have it…..
raincheck1956 August 10th, 2014 at 9:37 am
A lot of that “stereotype” image, is because of what comes out of the “Elected Officials” mouths…claiming to be speaking on behalf of their constituents
fancypants August 10th, 2014 at 2:10 am
proof that you cant erase what’s fact in history and they don’t mind making it worse each day
William August 9th, 2014 at 11:29 am
Hey GOP, tell us again how it’s not about race.
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:44 pm
Oh she’s adorable. She’s gotta be on Medicaid (only because she seems to be too young for Medicare)…..diabetes … morbidly obese . and dumb as hell.
Roctuna August 9th, 2014 at 1:20 pm
Thanks William, now I have to scrub my eyes
M D Reese August 9th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Wow! And he claims to want to take the state “forward”… I hope Ms. Wilson trounces him. I guess that red is the new white?
tiredoftea August 9th, 2014 at 3:28 pm
“Forward” for the right is the new backwards.
BanditBasheert August 9th, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Even if he wasn’t a racist asshole, his mouth should make him unelectable. On the other hand, he certainly lives in the right state to hold those views. Ever wonder if morons who say things like this have a clue how stupid and hateful they look to the rest of the country?
10acres August 9th, 2014 at 2:57 pm
Sit back and watch DA.
EnuffBull August 9th, 2014 at 3:08 pm
“Remain Republican red in our state” and “They are going to know the true American history”…
Sounds like it’s time for the Union troops to burn down Atlanta fiery red once more!
fancypants August 10th, 2014 at 2:07 am
They needed the ebola victims so that wouldn’t happen
burqa August 9th, 2014 at 7:47 pm
“It will not be liberalism, it will not be progressivism, but it will be something that is based on our Founding Fathers. …”
The Founding Fathers were nearly all libruls.
Obewon August 9th, 2014 at 8:51 pm
In Georgia today repubs have such a tough time dog whistling their projection, that’s all they’ve got remaining.
GOP hate the Constitution’s equal rights collapsing their 89% white party into having no more than 1/3 legacy minority support today. ‘The republicans have lost so much ground they won’t recover’-Pat Buchanan: ‘I don’t see a single GOP candidate who could beat Hillary.’
majii August 9th, 2014 at 10:14 pm
These GOPTP tools can keep saying that GOPTP policies are instrumental in ‘moving the state forward,’ but they’re lying. I live in GA, and I make it my business to keep up with important issues. GA is lagging behind the majority of the states in economic growth. Deal and the RW majority in the state legislature have done the same thing here that Brownback has done in KS–driven the economy into the ditch with tax cuts for the very wealthy and by handing out our tax dollars to Big Business while doing nothing for our uninsured and poor. GA lags behind in employment, wages, education, healthcare, and almost every other measure of the well-being of a state and its’ citizens. The RW tools here will vote for Woods, and there are two major reasons why they will. First, he’s a heterosexual, white, so-called Christian male, and second, the majority of voters buy his BS that GA is a hard red state, even though demographics show the state is trending purple. I hope I live long enough to see the smug-ass smiles disappear from these tools’ faces. Woods and his buddies remind me of Pres. Andrew Johnson whose job it was to preside over Reconstruction after Pres. Lincoln was assassinated. When he was asked what role blacks should play in Reconstruction in the South, he replied, “Reconstruction is an issue best left to white men.” According to him, no blacks, women, and most likely foreigners, need apply.
whatthe46 August 9th, 2014 at 11:06 pm
what in the heII is wrong with these people. the more they speak, the less educated they sound. and this is what georgia wants eh? talk about bassackwards!
Harry Engle August 10th, 2014 at 1:22 am
Most racist state in the union?
fancypants August 10th, 2014 at 2:03 am
its very close competition in the south. some don’t need to wear bedsheets
RuralStupidity August 11th, 2014 at 10:54 am
In the rural areas, for sure. Comparable to Mississippi.
Cambel August 10th, 2014 at 8:29 am
Well remember, if he can’t try to make this about race and babble on about things that don’t have anything to do with the actual contest, he would have to talk about education, schools, funding, and all of the other things he has no answer for.
Johnny MoonOwl August 10th, 2014 at 10:53 am
What? No cheese with that cracker?
Steven Farley August 10th, 2014 at 10:57 am
Just another republican off his meds.
DaddyO_969 August 10th, 2014 at 1:00 pm
Funny, ‘red’ has always been the color of America’s enemies.
Tammy Minton Haley August 29th, 2014 at 11:30 am
…i’ve always thought it was a huge Freudian slip…
cwazycajun August 11th, 2014 at 3:44 pm
SOMETHING based on the founding fathers, the constitution the declaration of independence, the federalist papers,they will teach the truth..in oter words his words SOMETHING LIKE……CAUSE IT SURE AS HELL AINT GONN ABE ANYTHING CLOSE TO THE TRUTH..the only reason the republicons say crap like that cause in there world the perversion twisting and bastardization of those documents is all they know