Haley, Race, and the GOP

Stop with the dog whistles, and embrace the legacy of Lincoln

Try as she may, by reversing course, Nikki Haley, candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, can’t seem to get past her answer to a simple question: “ What was the cause of the United States Civil War?” Haley replied that the war was about “I mean, I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are.”

In not mentioning the real cause – the institutional enslavement of Black people – Haley suffered a self-inflicted wound that she hasn’t been able to heal. She has also compelled many to ask why, nearly 160 years after the war, anyone would fail to rank slavery as the true cause of the bloodiest conflict in our country’s history. The answer lies in the GOP’s history of winking at racism in order the gain voter support, especially in the South.

Aside from some fringe elements, as the party of Lincoln, Republicans were long on the side of equality, with leaders like Nelson Rockefeller backing civil rights bills and Richard Nixon bringing real energy to the enforcement of equal opportunity laws in housing and employment. Then came political advisors like Lee Atwater who noted that certain causes, like opposition to integration, could be used to signal a subtle kind of racism. The message was: Vote for us, and we’ll keep minorities from gaining power. He said this was part of the party’s “Southern strategy.”

As Atwater would acknowledge, an intense focus on urban (a euphemism for minority)  crime amounted to a similar dog whistle. It reached its nadir in the 1988 presidential campaign when a pro-GOP group produced the infamous “Willie Horton” TV ad. It featured a menacing photo of Horton, an African American inmate, who had earned the privilege of weekend passes outside the prison. Far more white inmates received passes, but in choosing Horton and a photo that made him look like a thug, the pro-GOP group sent a coded racial message..

In more recent times, Republicans have been in the forefront of the opposition to campaigns to remove Confederate symbols from state flags and to move statues honoring Confederate leaders out of city and town squares. In both cases, opponents argued that these displays were about “heritage” not racism, but like the canard about the cause of the Civil War, this argument was disingenuous. The South’s tragic, bloody fight to keep slavery is a stain on the nation’s history and not the kind of “heritage” that should be celebrated.

About the Confederate flag. Those who fly it cite the same argument – “It’s our heritage” – and ask the rest of us to ignore that it signals a high regard for the pro-slavery forces of our past and a willingness to offend or even frighten everyone else. You do not see Confederate flags at rallies held by Democrats. You do see them at GOP rallies.  And it was no surprise to me that the Confederate battle flag was waved inside the Capitol during the pro-Trump insurrection of January 6, 2021.

Even at this late date, too many Republicans feel the pull to use racist tropes to energize certain voters. Vague talk about historical events like the Civil War has been one method used to show voters you understand their racial grievance and are, at least on this issue, a little like them. With most Americans in favor of civil rights, it should be obvious that this path is a losing one.  Haley has certainly been taught this lesson. Now, how about the rest of the GOP?