Questions raised over his preaching and practice on race issues.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal’s Op-Ed piece in the Politico on the topic of race and racism in the US – to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech – is being hotly debated as Jindal seemingly blames racism in the US on the minorities themselves.
“We still place far too much importance on our ‘separateness,’” Jindal says in the Op-Ed, published on Sunday. “We live in the age of hyphenated Americans: Asian-Americans, Italian-Americans, [etc.] Here’s an idea: How about just “Americans?” […] Placing undue emphasis on our “separateness” is a step backward. Bring back the melting pot.
ThinkProgress.com, which is part of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, denounced Jindal for pointing out problems with racism while simultaneously trying to enact a school voucher program in his own state that would public funding to help private school tuitions. ThinkProgress points to several studies that say the program inhibits desegregation and diversity in schools, and that Jindal is preaching one thing but doing another. The program has, in fact, been suspended in several Louisiana counties for this very reason.
Jindal was also on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, where he denounced the recent Republican movement to impeach President Barack Obama over the Obamacare legislation. “The reality is [that] I didn’t like it when the left spent eight years trying to delegitimize President [George W.] Bush, calling [into] question his election. I don’t think we should be doing that to President Obama.”
The Louisiana governor has been in the news recently for conflicting poll numbers that put him at either incredibly popular or hugely disliked, depending on which you look at.
Despite making statements over the years that criticize or go against his party – last year he called the GOP “the stupid party” – Jindal’s name has popped up several times as a possible candidate for a 2016 presidential campaign. But Jindal’s controversial, though presumably well-intentioned, statements on racism and another affront to conventional Conservative thinking could put him at the back of line for the presidential race.
Not that Jindal cares. He has repeatedly denied any plans for a White House bid, but so have all the supposed front-runners in both parties. With 2016 still so far away, they will all likely remain tight-lipped until late next year at the earliest.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com