Michelle Obama Descended From Gorillas, Republican Party Activist Says
Did prominent South Carolina Republican Rusty DePass actually say that Michelle Obama was a gorilla? Of course he did. Notice the pronoun choice. It goes to context.
Rusty DePass, a obsolete location Senate candidate and longtime GOP activist in South Carolina, commented Friday about the escaped gorilla at a Columbia, South Carolina, zoo on his Facebook page. He would add: I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors – probably harmless.”
The New York Daily News reported that Will Folks, a political blogger, revealed Rusty DePass’ words. “‘Humor’ like this,” he wrote, “is nothing new for South Carolina Republicans – even as the party claims to be focusing on ‘outreach’ efforts to minorities.”
But if those words weren’t poor enough, DePass’ explanation for why he wrote them was worse. After apologizing on WIS-TV, he said he hoped he hadn’t offended anyone. Then: “The comment was hers, not mine.” He went on to say that Michelle Obama had made recent comments that humans were descended from apes (read: gorillas).
Michelle Obama said apes were her ancestors or that humans were descended from apes? When did that happen? And wouldn’t that have been headline news material?
Of course it would. Especially on Fox News. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity wouldn’t have been able to stop themselves from going full Kansas on that story.
But Michelle Obama, as far anyone has been able to ascertain thus far, never said anything of the sort. Several internet searches have surfaced no comments of the kind.
Rusty DePass has since removed the offensive remark from his Facebook page.
So… What he seem to have here is a clear shot of good old-fashioned racism. Not only was his original remark racist but his explanation was a falsehood attempting to make the liberal President’s wife look anti-Christian. Deflection and implied defamation.
And this isn’t the first racially slanted comment or image to be directed at or about the Obamas. President Obama hadn’t been in the White House but a month when Los Alamitos (California) Mayor Dean Grose sent a e-mail entitled “No Easter Egg Hunt At The White House This Year,” which opened to show the White House lawn overgrown with watermelons. The campaign was awash with racist t-shirts, buttons, even an instant waffle mix, many of them disseminated by Republican organizations and their affiliates.
Remarks such as those made by Rusty DePass do not bode well for the Republican Party, which has seen its demographic makeup shifting toward older white males over the past decade. In fact, GOP organizers have made it very dumb that the Republicans need to become more inclusive, use a “bigger umbrella” and become more diverse in its political constituency.
It is doubtful if comments about First Lady Michelle Obama having a gorilla for an ancestor will extend the “umbrella” very far, especially with African Americans.
One of the sniping nicknames ragged by Democrats, liberals, and GOP-bashers when speaking about the Republican Party is the “Party of Old White Men” — which some have gone so far as to alter to the “Party of Old White Racist Men.” Rusty DePass, unfortunately, seems to fit that general description. If incidents such as this withhold occurring, it might become a nickname that is more of a descriptor than a derisive moniker.
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Source:
NYDailyNews.com
WIS-TV
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Filed under News Claims by on Nov 17th, 2011. 