Chaffey Community Republican Women

Her Non-Racist Eyes Couldn't Save Her

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on October 23, 2008 - 1:28pm

It looks like Diane Fedele, the women responsible for the racist "Obama Bucks" newsletter has realized that she wasn't convincing anyone with her "I'm not racist" pleas and decided to step down:

The president of a San Bernardino County Republican club resigned after apologizing for distributing a newsletter with a caricature of Barack Obama on a fake food stamp surrounded by ribs, watermelon and fried chicken.

In a letter sent Wednesday to members of the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated, Diane Fedele said she was sorry for showing "poor judgment and lack of insight and sensitivity."

...

Fedele denied racist intent but in her letter defended the message: "The point, that has been lost in the subsequent discussion over images, was that Obama will 'take from the rich and give to the poor' and that we ALL would be buying food with his 'Obama Welfare Dollars.' An ideological statement, not a racial one."

The best part of all of this? The fact that the original image was reportedly made by a Democrat in order to satirize the Right's over-the-top attacks on Obama:

The Riverside Press-Enterprise said the cartoon was created by Tim Kastelein, a 31-year-old Minnesota Democrat who said he made it in a satirical attempt to make fun of right-wing pundits afraid of a Democratic presidential candidate.

Kyle Mantyla's blog

PFAW

Filed under:

She’s Got Lovely, Racist Eyes

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on October 17, 2008 - 9:31am

Following up on the racist “Obama Bucks” mailer we wrote about yesterday, the LA Times today has this quote from Chaffey Community Republican Women's Club President Diane Fedele explaining that it was not racist at all because she doesn’t have “racist eyes”:

Fedele said the mailer merely parodied the statements Obama made during a debate last summer and wasn't racist.

"If I was racist, I would have looked at it through racist eyes," she said. "I am not racist, which is why it probably didn't register."

Club member Kristina Sandoval agreed.

"None of us are racists," she said.

The use of watermelon, ribs and fried chicken was innocent, she said.

"Everyone eats those foods, it's not a racial thing."

How does one determine if they have “racist eyes” exactly? Maybe only if they are looking out through this?

Kyle Mantyla's blog

PFAW

Filed under:

Racist GOP Newsletter in California

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on October 16, 2008 - 12:08pm

If people are up in arms over the latest mailing from the Virginia GOP, they ain't seen nothing yet.

Check out this report from The Press-Enterprise in California:

The latest newsletter by an Inland Republican women's group depicts Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama surrounded by a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken, prompting outrage in political circles.

The October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps -- instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of "Obama Bucks" -- a phony $10 bill featuring Obama's face on a donkey's body, labeled "United States Food Stamps."

The GOP newsletter, which was sent to about 200 members and associates of the group by e-mail and regular mail last week, is drawing harsh criticism from members of the political group, elected leaders, party officials and others as racist.

The group's president, Diane Fedele, said she plans to send an apology letter to her members and to apologize at the club's meeting next week. She said she simply wanted to deride a comment Obama made over the summer about how as an African-American he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

"It was strictly an attempt to point out the outrageousness of his statement. I really don't want to go into it any further," Fedele said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I absolutely apologize to anyone who was offended. That clearly wasn't my attempt."

...

"I didn't see it the way that it's being taken. I never connected," she said. "It was just food to me. It didn't mean anything else."

...

Sheila Raines, an African-American member of the club, was the first person to complain to Fedele about the newsletter. Raines, of San Bernardino, said she has worked hard to try to convince other minorities to join the Republican Party and now she feels betrayed.

"This is what keeps African-Americans from joining the Republican Party," she said. "I'm really hurt. I cried for 45 minutes."

...

The newsletter is not the first such episode Barajas has had to respond to this week. The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday posted an image it said was captured from the Sacramento County GOP Web site that showed Obama in a turban next to Osama bin Laden.

It said: "The difference between Osama and Obama is just a little B.S." The site also encouraged members to "Waterboard Barack Obama," a reference to a torture technique. The Sacramento County party took down the material Tuesday after being criticized.

Mark Kirk, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County GOP chairman, said he expects Chairman Gary Ovitt to also have a talk with Fedele and to attend the group's local meeting next week to discuss the issue with members, although the county GOP has no formal oversight role over the club. Kirk said these kinds of depictions hurt the party's ongoing efforts to reach out to minorities.