Repartay

I Has a Black Friend

This is, as they say, really “inside baseball”, but basically, South Carolina GOP Chair Katon Dawson has seen his bid for the RNC Chairmanship hampered by his previous membership to a country club whose policy stipulates only whites may join. Today, he attempts to “push back” by circulating a letter from a black RNC member vouching for his non-racist bona fides.

A few months ago, a local newspaper wrote an article about a country club where Katon was a member. The article pointed out that the club did not have any minority members. There was some confusion about whether or not it was club policy or a longstanding deed that prohibited minority members — none of that really matters. What matters is this: Katon Dawson tried to change the club’s practices to allow minority members. When he realized that things were not likely to change, Katon resigned his membership.

Sadly, Katon’s opponents are trying to use the fact that he was a member of this country club to disqualify him from serving as RNC Chair.

Of course, Dawson began pushing to change the policy in August, an action rather conveniently timed given the 12 year tenure of his membership. All this aside though, it doesn’t speak particularly well for someone to have joined such a club in the first place. You could make the argument that that joining such a club in South Carolina might actually help one’s political prospects in the Republican party, but this is neither exculpatory on Dawson’s behalf nor does it say much for the GOP. Anyway, I predict Katon Dawson’s bid for the RNC chairmanship will reach a mundanely unsuccessful end, but it’s always important to point out that though not all Republicans are racist, they’re certainly a few of them.