Jamelle Bouie on the not-so-surprising racism of Cliven Bundy and the equally unsurprising fact that his words mirror those of many GOP leaders.
Obviously, Bundy is a crank. But he’s not alone. Not only are these views shared on the survivalist fringe of American life, but they’re fairly common within the conservative movement. Enterprising pundits—almost all of them African-American—have built careers out of telling White audiences that slavery was better for Black families than welfare.
In short, the only difference between Bundy and a whole host of conservatives is that the renegade rancher isn't sophisticated enough to couch his nonsense in soundbites and euphemism. Or, if Bundy has anything to say about "the negro," he learned it from the conservative movement.
