Paul Ryan black Ex: Does It Really Matter? By United States Congress [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Do voters care that Paul Ryan’s former girlfriend was black?
Now that the presidential campaign is in full swing, the attention of the voting public and the media have turned their attention to the candidates that are looking to occupy the White House.
Since the August 11th announcement of Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, there have been many articles and opinions written about the young, energetic Congressman from Wisconsin.
CNN Reporter Peter Hamby tweeted a 2005 quote from Ryan to Milwaukee Magazine stating that his college sweetheart was black.
The Root’s political correspondent, Keli Goff then posted an article asking the question “does it matter?”
Goff writes, “Certainly, having a relationship with someone of a different race does not automatically make someone more racially sensitive and enlightened. … In other words, it is possible to have a black friend, Asian friend, Hispanic friend or Muslim friend or wife and still exhibit prejudice toward that group. The friend or wife is simply viewed as the exception who is not like the others.”
New York Daily News calls the article an “incredibly dumb piece” and writes, “This pointless piece ends up taking the long way around to implying Ryan is bad for black people and may not like them much, despite the fact that he has a black sister-in-law and a black ex-girlfriend.”
It remains to be seen what effect this revelation will have on voter opinion, if at all. Racial politics was a large part of the campaign in 2008 and many believe that it was the determining factor in the election results.
Will this hurt the Republican campaign in the deep South? Will it help the Romney/Ryan campaign amongst minority voters? Whether it matters remains to be seen.
Do you think Paul Ryan‘s ex-girlfriends skin color has any bearing on the 2012 presidential race?
Come on people..this is the USA. People have never gotten upset over a white guy having a Black girlfriend in America. It’s when the script gets flipped and a Black person has a White girlfriend, panties get tied in a knot.
Watch any popular TV show or movie and count how many Black people are pictured with White women and you’ll see what I mean. It’s a holdover from how this (and other countries) were made. Just goes to show how some people can evolve..while others just MUTATE.
Actually, people DO get their knickers in a knot–especially when the Nice White Dude decides to MARRY the Nice Black Girlfriend….then that’s when the Nice White Guy gets cut out of his parents’ will, and his RELATIVES find reasons to ostracize him for committing the Grave Sin of MARRYING the Nice Black LAdy, EVEN IF the marriage is held in a house of worship! You see, it’s OK to FORNICATE with or RAPE a Black Girlfriend–that’s the holdover from SLAVERY and the JIM CROW ERA–but it isn’t Ok to MARRY the Black Lady and have a RESPECTABLE MARRIAGE and FAMILY with the Nice Black Lady! If you need further proof, notice how the WHITE MALE-BLACK FEMALE relationship was hushed up, TABOO and not even portrayed in TV shows and movies for DECADES…
Who cares? It was 20-25 years ago. It has no impact whatsoever on the character and policies of the individuals involved in this race (no pun intended). We cannot bash a white guy for having had a black gf and not bash the black guy for having had a white gg. This is all stupid and being made into something it isn’t. If race is an issue, please explain to me how a black (bi-racial) man got into the White House. I am sensing a great deal of hypocrisy in this aspect of the presidential race, as well as many other areas.