Writer takes issue with political cartoon

A few weeks ago the Gazette ran a political cartoon which portrayed Democrats as Socialists (which at this stage, I believe most Democrats would agree is the case). But disturbing to me is that Republicans were portrayed as racists. The term racist has been so casually used to vilify anyone someone doesn’t like or agree with that its real meaning has been obscured. I found this to be highly offensive and wonder why the Gazette chose to select something so untrue to include in the editorial page.

It is a matter of historical fact that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would never have been passed without Republican support (82%). Roughly two-thirds of Democrats supported it. Al Gore, Sr. and Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia were among 21 Senate Democrats who voted against it. Byrd, I might add, was once a member of the KKK, although he later apologized for it when he began to see the winds of change turning and was afraid he might lose political power. The senior Al Gore even crafted the “Gore Amendment” designed to continue school segregation. Instead of having his son (eventually the Democratic candidate for President in 2000) from having to attend a desegregated school, Al, Jr. attended an elite private school. The civil rights activist Andrew Young in his book An Easy Burden, noted that the best civil rights judges were those appointed by Republican President Eisenhower and stated, “These judges are among the many unsung heroes of the civil rights movement.” Senator Everett Dirkson’s leadership in delivering the Republican vote earned him the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights Award presented by Roy Wilkins of the NAACP. Yet we still have those among us who wish to perpetuate “the Big Lie” – that is, tell a lie big enough and often enough and people will believe it.

I know that political cartoons are merely someone’s opinion, but when they become so far off-the-wall and totally devoid of truth, I feel you need to be more discerning in what is opinion and what is trash. This was trash.

Jon Frye

Xenia