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Last weekend, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (pictured) employed compassion and critical thinking in her critique of her party. Speaking before a reported “cheering crowd at the annual gathering of California Republicans in the San Francisco suburb of Burlingame,” Rice focused on the issue of immigration, though the logic can be applied to the GOP’s stance about any minority-related issue.

Rice explained to the crowd, ”We have a responsibility to those who do not yet have the liberties and the rights that we enjoy. We cannot abandon them. … We were once them.”

Some of us more than others, but I digress.

It’s already been confirmed that immigration reform is dead in 2014, so bless Condi’s heart for even trying. Still, even if you were to break down Condoleezza’s core argument — inclusiveness and stop being mean-spirited *ssholes (paraphrasing) — it’s pretty evident that the GOP gives not a single damn about being kinder, gentler, and more open to diversity.

Sure, they say they want that, but inclusiveness is not Paul Ryan and his thinly-veiled racist explanation about poverty among “inner city men.” Neither is RNC chairman’s Reince Preibus’ defense of Ryan’s controversial remarks either.

Speaking with CNN’s Candy Crowley, Reince said of Ryan’s commentary:

Here’s what I would say, Why was Paul even talking about this? The reason he was talking about it is he devoted a large part of his life — starting back when he worked for Jack Kemp — on finding ways to tackle poverty, to free up capital, to create opportunities in urban areas around this country.

Whatever race, whatever gender, we are the ones leading the way, I think, in this country on these issues. And so I commend Paul for his work that he’s doing around country.

So by perpetuating racist stereotypes while offering a deeply flawed and uninformed explanation of poverty, Paul Ryan “helped” po’ folks. Condoleezza Rice wants the GOP to pass immigration reform in the name of spreading liberty, but hasn’t tackled that even when minorities are afforded certain rights in this country, many in her party work at not only stripping them of those rights, but making their lives in America as miserable as possible.

Speaking of, two women in Republican leadership argued against women seeking equal pay, claiming that they are “whining” and need to be “more like men” when trying to attain their goals.

Cari Christman, leader of GOP PAC RedState Women claimed in a recent interview that equal pay laws weren’t “practical” because:

We don’t believe the Lilly Ledbetter Act is what’s going to solve that problem for women. We believe that women want real-world solutions to this problem, not more rhetoric. If you look at it, women are… extremely busy, we lead busy lives… And so when we look at this issue, we think, what’s practical?

Now tag in Texas Republican Party Executive Director Beth Cubriel who slammed women for not being as good negotiators as men are:

Is it really fair to clog up the courts with litigation that you can take through another avenue? And put that ahead of litigation that can only go through the state courts? I don’t think so.

Men are better negotiators. And I would encourage women, instead of pursuing the courts for action, to become better negotiators.

Next up is State Sen. Phil Jensen (R-S.D.), a cheerleader for racism who recently said that he doesn’t believe governments should interfere in the private sector’s ability to get their Jim Crow on.

Speaking with Rapid City Journal, Jensen said:

If someone was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and they were running a little bakery for instance, the majority of us would find it detestable that they refuse to serve blacks, and guess what? In a matter of weeks or so that business would shut down because no one is going to patronize them.

Yeah, die hard conservatives may hate whenever the federal government steps in, but to suggest that the free market will conquer a societal ill like racism on its own is to speak from an ahistorical perspective and a whole lot of White privilege. By the way, the GOP has routinely engaged in racist practices, but they haven’t exactly been shut out of power, now have they?

Condoleezza, I feel you on inclusiveness, but you have got to know your words are being ignored by the bulk of your party. Keep hope alive, though, sis.

 

Condoleezza Rice Wants GOP To Be More Inclusive, But…  was originally published on newsone.com