I’m writing this post knowing that, chances are, I’m going to more than likely either anger or offend the crap out of people. This is a risk I’m willing to take, and you know where to find me if I bother you. In fact, I’m just going to go ahead and annoy as many people as possible on the next line.
I don’t think Rand Paul is racist.
There. I said it.
And I’m going to say this too: I’m sick and tired of people equating “Libertarian” to “Republican.” Bite. Me. I’ve already gotten that rant out in a previous entry. I’m not writing this to go off on that again.
As I stated in this entry, racism sickens me. I do not agree with any form of it, do not participate in it, and lose respect for anyone who may. However, no matter how vile I think racism is, in this country, the racists are allowed to be racist. The racists are allowed to spout off any racist drivel they feel the desire to spout off. The racists are allowed to wear their little racist shirts, name their dogs little racist names, go to their racist churches and hold their racist rallies on the courthouse steps and hold their private little racist meetings. The racists, should they own their own businesses, should also have the right to refuse to allow certain people into their establishments.
That’s not me being a racist – that’s me saying that if they want to refuse to serve someone a Coke, it’s their right, as a private establishment owner, to refuse to serve someone a Coke. They don’t receive public funds, so, therefore, as a Libertarian, I don’t think the public (government) has the right to tell them how to run their business. If they want to lose money because their racists idiots who don’t want to let everyone buy a Coke, THEN SO BE IT.
How did that George Wallace quote go? “Segregation now, segregation forever”? That is racism.
Saying something along the lines of, “I don’t think the government should be able to tell a private property owner how to utilize their land, or a business owner how to run their business” is NOT racism.
No matter how many examples I try to give to explain my stance on this issue, someone reading this is only going to say, “So you’re equating [insert example here] to a human being?”
It’s a no win situation.
If Hank has a restaurant and doesn’t want to serve turkey on the menu, does the government have the right to pass a law and force Hank to serve turkey on his menu because the turkey farmers in the country aren’t selling much turkey?
Not a good example?
How about I tell you all a personal story of mine? Good? Good.
2002. I was working for a police department. My co-worker, a police officer, was a black woman. We would go out on the road around lunch time every day to go do what we had to do at the courthouse, grab some lunch, then mosey on back to our place of employment. One day she decided that she wanted to go get some lunch from this place she knew, so I obliged. We pull up, she asks me what I want (they had the menu posted outside), so I told her. Go to get out of the car and she tells me, “No, no. You can stay in here. I’ll go get it.” I’m sure she could tell by the look on my face that I was confused as to why suddenly she was going to be nice and let me wait in the car. “They won’t know how to handle a white girl going in there.”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“Well, just… just stay in the car, ok?” she replied.
Two women walked inside, and as they were walking in, they glared at me with these evil eyes as if to say, “Who the hell does this girl think she is coming in to this place?”
“Like I said, they won’t know how to handle it if you walk in there,” my co-worker said. “Just stay in the car and I’ll be right out.”
Point of me telling you this is twofold….
#1: Don’t tell me I don’t know what it’s like to be made to feel uncomfortable because of my race. I do. I know what it feels like when people automatically judge you because of the color of your skin. Just because I’m white doesn’t mean I’ve never felt racially judged. I felt it that day, I felt it before then, I feel it at times in the present and I will more than likely feel it again in the future. This is the world we live in.
#2: They didn’t want me in that place. They didn’t want me there. They didn’t like me and they didn’t even want me sitting in the damned parking lot. Did I complain? No. Was I upset? Whatever. I knew they didn’t like me because I am white, they didn’t want to serve me, and that was their business.
And guess what? People with the opinion like Rand Paul, his father Ron and myself AGREE that they should be allowed to decide who they do and don’t serve.
They didn’t want to serve this white girl, and I passionately defend their right to refuse to serve me.
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