Marilyn Davenport's Racist Email Denounced By OC GOP

[CatWoman]

Marilyn Davenport, a Tea Party activist and member of the Orange County Republican Party's central committee, is drawing fire from people in her own party after circulating a racist email depicting President Barack Obama and his parents as chimpanzees. In the email: "Now you know why — No birth certificate!"

The OC Weekly broke the story and were able to reach Davenport for comment. Her response:

"Oh, come on! Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist. It was a joke. I have friends who are black. Besides, I only sent it to a few people--mostly people I didn't think would be upset by it."

CBS interviewed former chairman of the California Republican Party Michael Schroeder, who says that this email is Davenport's third strike. He is calling for her resignation, citing two previous incidents in which Davenport defended the racist actions of two fellow Orange County conservatives.

The first was during President Obama's inauguration, when Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose forwarded an email depicting a watermelon patch on the White House lawn to several people. According to Schroeder, Davenport defended Grose amidst calls for his resignation.

Schroeder also says that Davenport defended Newport Councilman Richard Nichols when he opposed installing grassy areas at a beach. His reason, according to the L.A. Times: "with grass we usually get Mexicans coming in there early in the morning and they claim it as theirs, and it becomes their personal, private grounds all day."

The Huffington Post's calls to the Republican Party of Orange County were not immediately returned.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/16/marilyn-davenports-racist_n_850063.html

[RagAss]

1. Another piece of shit in the pile.

[gateley]

2. She should not only lose her job, but should be charged with something. nt

[dsc]

12. just what should she be charged with?

I can't fathom any charge which would be sustainable given the first amendment. On edit she should lose her job and become a pariah but we don't need thought crime laws which is what you would have to have to criminally punish her for this email.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

3. ''I have friends who are black.''

[Dawson Leery]

4. Tea Party = KKK

Based upon their actions of course.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. Make no mistake though. There is no such thing a s''The Tea Party'' this are just your more

outspoken rethugs right there in all their "glory".

[47of74]

5. The GOP's problem....

She actually said in public what many of them say behind closed doors.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

7. Damn right! nt

[madrchsod]

10. yup, they are pissed off because she couldn't keep her mouth shut

[cali]

8. hahahahaha. sure she's not a racist dog turd.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. OMG I just got this picture in an email today

It's so bad I told the sender he was a racist and I spammed him from ever emailing me again.

[KurtNYC]

11. Unreal - like turning the clock back 150 years.

Wow.

[EstimatedProphet]

13. I'm not a racist! I have black friends! And I didn't send them this anyway!

The statement speaks for itself, doesn't it?

[wisteria]

14. This does not prove all Tea Party members are racist, but it does prove racists are among their

members.
This was a terrible thing to do, and she compounded it by trying to blame the person who exposed the e-mail.

[coalition_unwilling]

15. "It was a joke" -- I once had a fundy rw Christian nutjob tell me

he thought all gays and lesbians should be gathered together and burned to death. When I called him out on how un-Christian that sounded, he said, "Oh, I was just joking." But the weird thing is that when he first said it, I did not pick up a 'joke' vibe from it and thought he was deadly serious.

There is a sizable component of the current Republican Party that thinks gays and lesbians should be punished for their sexuality and who believe that black people are apes (and inferior to white people becuase of it). These bigots can no longer publicly espouse such virulent racism and homophobia for a variety of reasons, but they can still privately believe it and, when their private belief systems are exposed, disavow it as just "a joke".

It does though make me question why any black person would consider himself or herself Republican any longer or why groups such as Log Cabin Republicans continue to exist.

Edited for clarity and typos.

[tanyev]

16. If that's not racist, I hate to think what she does consider racist.