Ben Chandler: "Racism, what racism? I don't see any racism"

Barr's opponent, U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, said he won't make Barr's club membership a campaign issue. Kentuckians don't dwell on such things, Chandler said.

"We've moved past all that, and we're in a better place now," said Chandler, who is white, as are Paul and Barr — and for that matter, everyone ever elected to federal or statewide office in Kentucky. -- Lexington Herald-Leader, Sunday, July 18

Hey, Wire Hangar: Far be it from me to call you a racist, but if the shoe fits ....

Wanna know why no African-Americans have been elected to statewide office in Kentucky? Because assholes like Ben Chandler and every other white politician in this state pretend black Kentuckians are invisible.

I've watched in disgust for decades as white Kentuckians congratulated themselves on being "color-blind" or "post-racist," even as they maintained segregated schools into the mid-'70s and still maintain segregated housing. Racist treatment in hiring, law enforcement and criminal justice is as severe in Kentucky as it is anywhere in the country, but you rarely hear about it.

Instead you hear filthy racist lies like "We've moved past all that, we're in a better place now."

Really, you Blue Dog douchebag? Black per-capita income two-thirds of white income is "a better place?" Black incarceration rates four times that of whites is "a better place?" Black unemployment rates almost double that of whites is "a better place?"

Sixteen years ago, white Lexington cops shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in Lexington. African-American citizens marched in protest through downtown, in what has been misnamed the "Sullivan riot."

That had to be the quietest, most polite and non-violent "riot" in history. A van was destroyed and a photographer beaten, but nobody died.

The horrific part was the self-congratulation of Lexington whites: See how post-racial and colorblind we are? Our darkies know how to behave, even in a riot!

In 1994 they said this shit. And white people across the state nodded wisely.

But neither Chandler nor Paul are being dumb in their refusal to acknowledge the racism endemic to and epidemic in Kentucky. No politician in Kentucky ever lost an election by exposing himself as a racist, although Chandler, Barr and Paul do seem to be betting on winning that way.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....