The Bull Elephant
  • Home
  • About The Bull Elephant
  • Fun Stuff
  • Contact The Bull Elephant
Latest Posts
Culpeper County sheriff to deputize thousands if Red...
The America hating left
How the GOP can win the next election
Get ready for the RPV ‘Dirge’
The Consequences of Failure
Shaun Kenney returning to RPV
Make the 6th District Republican Party Great Again!

The Bull Elephant

  • Home
  • About The Bull Elephant
  • Fun Stuff
  • Contact The Bull Elephant
Congressman Tom Garrett (photo credit: Andrew Shurtleff/The Daily Progress)

Race-Based Rhetoric is Inherently Un-American

written by Guest Contributor Rep. Tom Garrett May 17, 2017

Racism is an abhorrent institution, period. No one who believes they are better, worse, or unequal based on the color of their skin has a place in the District I represent or the America I defend. The charade that took place in Charlottesville on Saturday night was either criminally naïve or an intentional image meant to stoke the bigotry and intolerance that our Commonwealth fought to bury decades ago. Unfortunately, I am under the impression that it was the latter and I have no sympathy for those who embrace it. As I learned more about the gathering that occurred this weekend, purportedly to save the Lee statue from removal, I could not believe what I was hearing. While the First Amendment protects speech and expression, whoever thought that two hundred people carrying torches was in any way productive must have failed basic American history. Regardless of any cause they wanted to represent, their actions spoke for themselves in the message they delivered and that message should be rejected by all of us.

Race relations are a complex issue in the South, especially in Virginia, but I am proud of the special role the Fifth District has played in their progress. It is the home of flawless documents written by flawed men that created a system for all man to be treated as they were created, equally. It is home of General Lee’s surrender, the symbolic end to our bloodiest war and slavery. And it was home to Barbara Johns, a young spark in the Civil Rights movement who led her high school walkout against segregation and became the only student-initiated case in Brown v. Board of Education. These positive legacies inherently stem from dark pasts. We cannot forget where we came from, for progress will not seem as sweet. The pictures and chants of Saturday evening remind us of the darkness that once intimidated millions, but it will not intimidate us now.

I embrace an ideology rooted in protecting the ultimate minority – the individual. Collectivization based on race or any other distinguishing trait has no home in republican principles. These practices inherently divide us, run counter to our core, and regressively reject others from joining our cause. There is no home in my party—the party of our founding documents, the party of Lincoln, and the party that fought to pass the Civil Rights Act —for a race-based organization. For as much rhetoric as the modern Left uses to associate these actions with my party, I expected to see more of Virginia’s democratic leaders condemn these actions, yet Senator Kaine and Governor McAuliffe remain silent.

As a soldier, prosecutor, and legislator, I’ve devoted my life to defending American ideals. Anyone who believes the color of a person’s skin makes us different is an anathema to the values I’ve fought for. We must remove the plank from our own eyes and work together, regardless of partisanship, to reject these organizations and look beyond physical differences on our way to our more perfect union.

– Tom Garrett

Race-Based Rhetoric is Inherently Un-American was last modified: May 17th, 2017 by Guest Contributor Rep. Tom Garrett
Congressman Tom Garrett on race relations
14 comments
Guest Contributor Rep. Tom Garrett

Rep. Tom Garrett was elected to represent Virginia's 5th Congressional District in Washington in 2016. Raised in Louisa County, he earned his Bachelor and Law degrees from the University of Richmond, and served in the United States Army for six years. Prior to being elected to the Congress, Tom served as a member of the Virginia Senate and had previously been elected Louisa County's Commonwealth's Attorney in 2007, where he was the first Republican elected countywide in Louisa since Reconstruction.

Your life will be better if you click one of these

Culpeper County sheriff to deputize thousands if...

December 7, 2019

The America hating left

December 7, 2019

How the GOP can win the next...

December 5, 2019

Get ready for the RPV ‘Dirge’

December 4, 2019

The Consequences of Failure

December 4, 2019

Shaun Kenney returning to RPV

December 3, 2019

Make the 6th District Republican Party Great...

December 3, 2019

Retirement Lies and Statistics

December 3, 2019

Revolution

December 3, 2019

Trump Hasn’t Changed the Republican Party. But...

December 3, 2019

Fun Stuff

  • Holiday TV viewing schedule

  • Snow forecast Virginia winter 2019-2020

  • Reliving History with the Chicago Cubs

  • Innocents Abroad (II)

  • College destinations for TJHSST class of 2019

Advertisement

Advertisement

Sign Up for Email Alerts

Select list(s):

Advertisement

Recent Comments

  • Peter Strzok and Lisa Page and their spouses–photos – The … – Bugaluu on Peter Strzok and Lisa Page and their spouses–photos
  • Get ready for the RPV ‘Dirge’ – The Bull Elephant on 8 ideas to grow the GOP in Virginia
  • The Consequences of Failure – The Bull Elephant on A Conservative BHAG
  • The Consequences of Failure – The Bull Elephant on The Republicans Empty Wagon
  • The Consequences of Failure – The Bull Elephant on Nationalize the 2020 Elections – Prosperity. Security. Freedom.

Advertisement

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

@2017 Bull Elephant Media LLC.


Back To Top