Walks like a duck

Now I don't make this stuff up, I merely report what looks curious to me. I alluded to some of the more hostile and strange goings on at the CPAC conference in D.C. but just had to come back to the subject when I read a little bit more about it today.

From CBSnews.com:

Suggestion to segregate black Republicans draws controversy

A Towson University student's suggestion that black Republicans segregate themselves from the rest of the party generated waves of controversy at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.
During a panel that focused on attracting more minority support to the GOP, two black conservatives identified themselves "Frederick Douglass Republicans."
That label prompted Towson student Scott Terry to reply that a more appropriate moniker might be the "Booker T. Washington Republicans," who would be "united like the hand, but separate like the fingers," according to a video of the exchange posted by liberal blog ThinkProgress.
He also said slave-owners centuries ago should have been commended for "feeding and housing" their slaves.
After the panel, the blog reported that Terry asked, "Why can't we just have segregation?"
Terry, who was sporting a Rick Santorum sticker and claimed to be a direct descendant of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, told ThinkProgress he'd "be fine with" a society in which African-Americans were permanently subservient to white people. He also said African-Americans "should be allowed to vote in Africa."
At one point, when challenged on the heritage of the GOP by a female onlooker, Terry responded, "I didn't know the legacy of the Republican Party included women correcting men in public."
One of the black Republicans approached by Terry said in a statement that, despite Terry's "racially insensitive remarks ... I further explained to him the Frederick Douglass Republican message, which he embraced, bought a book, and we left as friends."

Here's a bit more of the story from Think Progress:

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — A panel at the Conservative Political Action Committee on Republican minority outreach exploded into controversy on Friday afternoon, after an audience member defended slavery as good for African-Americans.
The exchange occurred after an audience member from North Carolina, 30-year-old Scott Terry, asked whether Republicans could endorse races remaining separate but equal. After the presenter, K. Carl Smith of Frederick Douglass Republicans, answered by referencing a letter by Frederick Douglass forgiving his former master, the audience member said “For what? For feeding him and housing him?” Several people in the audience cheered and applauded Terry’s outburst.
After the exchange, Terry muttered under his breath, “why can’t we just have segregation?” noting the Constitution’s protections for freedom of association. Watch it.
ThinkProgress spoke with Terry, who sported a Rick Santorum sticker and attended CPAC with a friend who wore a Confederate Flag-emblazoned t-shirt, about his views after the panel. Terry maintained that white people have been “systematically disenfranchised” by federal legislation.
When asked by ThinkProgress if he’d accept a society where African-Americans were permanently subservient to whites, he said “I’d be fine with that.” He also claimed that African-Americans “should be allowed to vote in Africa,” and that “all the Tea Parties” were concerned with the same racial problems that he was.

There have been some updates on the story, much of the conservative ire now being directed at the african american woman reporter who dared question the speaker. I find it interesting that the black speaker didn't react at all to Terry's questioning why things can not be kept separate. People wanted to make nice to this guy, enough room for everybody in the GOP big tent, including apparently white supremacists.

Multiculturalism has been a favorite bugaboo of the right for the last several years and most anybody with any sense could see who the real enemy was. Consider the anti hispanic tirades that occurred on the first day of the conference. The elephant in the living room that no one wanted to talk about. Are all or even most Republican's racists? Of course not.  But how do republicans reconcile themselves with these disparate and toxic members of their base? I think it is fair to say that they can be accused of being overly polite to the small percentage of their membership that wants to ship the blacks back to the motherland. K. Carl Smith said that he and the white separatist left as friends. Those kind of friends nobody needs...