LOS ANGELES.–Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley, 51, who finished third in Iowa, said that America is not a racist country, but said she faced racism as a child. Haley fresh off her loss in Iowa has established herself as gaffe prone, telling a town hall audience in Berlin, New Hampshire Dec. 28, that states rights and freedom was the cause of the Civil War. Haley face withering criticism, eventually saying, “of course the Civil War was about slavery,” walking back her thoughtless comment because the media firestorm. Serving as governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, Haley knows the history of her state, despite denying the country was racist. Voters need to digest the fact that Haley has little common sense whether it’s about U.S. history or domestic and foreign policy. Haley surely knows that America’s great cities today are largely segregated.
Haley’s comments about racism reflects the fact that she’s of East Indian ancestry, taking a very different attitude than U.S. Blacks whose ancestors once lived under slavery from Colonial Times in the 1700s through the end of the of the Civil War in 1865. White Southerners, who lost the Civil War and were forced to live under a new set of laws banning slavery, were reluctant to embrace new federal guidelines, even 150 years after the end of the Civil War. All civil rights laws passed by Congress and adjudicated in U.S. courts, including the Supreme Court, continue to rule on racism to this day. Haley was born Jan. 20, 1972, only eight years after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act July 2, 1964. Haley went to the prestigious private Orangeburg Prepatory Academy, graduation Clemson University in 1993. Surely, Haley learned something about racism in America.
Haley’s gaffes reflect the fact that she’s a programmed candidate, stuffed like a scarecrow with talking points to advance her campaign. But when asked to speak off-the-cuff she gets into trouble, when she said last week that “65 was way too young to retire.” When it comes to racism, it’s deeply offensive to hear Haley say the country is not racist. “We are not a racist country,” Haley told Fox New Brian Kilmeade, after finishing third behind 45-year-old Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Haley thought she had momentum to finish second in Iowa but her gaffes came back to bite her. “We’ve never been a racist country,” Haley said one day after Martin Luther King Day. Haley did nothing to help her cause with Black voters in future GOP primaries, even if Iowa and New Hampshire are primarily White states. Hearing Haley spew such nonsense should give everyone a pause.
If anyone’s been listening to Haley’s foreign policy, she plans to rubber stamp Biden’s reckless Ukraine War, often making disparaging comments about China and Russia. Any GOP voter listening to Haley can’t distinguish her policies from Biden, a big concern for any voter tired of spending billions in Ukraine. Haley often says Russian President Vladimir Putin is “thug,” who invaded Ukraine and must be contained. That’s the exact same talking points as Biden, who can’t fathom that generations of U.S. presidents since WW II worked feverishly to build cooperative, pragmatic relations with Moscow. Biden is the first U.S. president to go to war with the Kremlin, under the outrageous plan that he was going to degrade the Russian military. Putin is more dug into Ukraine than ever with no plans to surrender territory except under a brokered peace plan.
When it comes to Haley’s incredulous comments about racism in America, she again tried to walk back her comments. “Our goal is to make sure today is better than yesterday. Are we perfect? No,” Haley said. “But our goal is to always make sure we try to be more perfect every day we can. I know. I face racism when I was growing up but I can tell you today is bettr than it was then,” completing her damage control. Haley knows but continues to shoot herself in the foot because she has limited common sense. Saying the U.S. is not or never has been a racist country is preposterous. Whether the anti-racist movement has gone too far or not remains to be seen. Today’s anti-racist movement has all White people branded as racists because they’re not Black. But Haley certainly knows the dark history of racism in America, something that goes on in every big city in the country.
Haley’s comments on racism underscore the fact that she’s a fake GOP candidate, pretending she’s skilled and disciplined enough to continue winning votes. Finishing a close third in Iowa was a big blow to Haley’s campaign. If Haley doesn’t win New Hampshire or finish a close second to Trump, she’ll hit a trip-wire heading into South Carolina Feb, 3. Telling the public that slavery was not the cause of the Civil War or that the U.S. is not racist, shows she has no common sense. Whether things have improved for Blacks and other minorities since the Civil War doesn’t excuse what happens today. When riots broke out around the country over George Floyd’s May 25, 2020 death, it showed how African Americans deal with lingering racism. Trump’s reelection was torpedoed in 2020 by the Covid-19 crisis but also by race riots around the country.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.