Where are MY reparations?
Crass as Class.
By Conventioneer, aka Geoff Aung, aka Dr. Southpaw
The most difficult part of covering the CRNC was deciding which t-shirt to buy. Kick a commie for Ronnie? Hoover’s your daddy? PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals? These were all great options, but ultimately I had to side with the shirt that bashed the UN. It said “Got Ammo?” and had a picture of the UN logo inside a bulls-eye. The utter lack of creativity did it for me – the other ones were just too clever. I wanted something crass.
I wore that shirt to bed last night. That’s how much it means to me. And when I awoke, gathering all the swag I had collected took so long I was late to work. I was carrying this bright blue sign that read “Your CRNC: Every College Republican Counts!” It was incredibly embarassing. As I was walking past a bus stop, one woman took the effort to stand up from the wooden bench, stick her head out from around the corner of the glass box, and stare at me from one end of the block to the other. I was mortified, yet there was no way to explain myself.
 | | Kim and Geoff, our Conventionette and Conventioneer, delight in the quantity of cheesecake and stickers available at the Convention. |
I spent all weekend amongst conservatives, so naturally my first thought was, “How would a conservative react?” Immediately I remembered how so much of the conference was devoted to convincing these young Republicans that they are victims. From the Young America’s Foundation to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute to Students for Academic Freedom, the influences to which the convention-goers were subject were aimed by and large at assuring these college students that they’re sane and the rest of the college-aged population detests them. The only challenging that took place came in the form of speakers challenging students to be more conservative.
- “The Democratic battle is ordained by the devil.” Jesse Lee Peterson
- “White folks need to get over their fear of being called a racist.” Jesse Lee Peterson
- “Instead of reparations, how ‘bout a free ticket back to Africa?” Jesse Lee Peterson
- “They’re giving their lives as you’re giving your time.” Tony Perkins, Family Research Council, comparing the sacrifices of U.S. troops to those of the student attendees
- “Start kicking some liberal tail on college campuses!” Michael Davidson, former CRNC candidate for Chairman
- “If you come across a paper bag in the gutter and it seems something’s in it and you don’t know if it’s alive, you don’t kick it, do you?” Ronald Reagan, discussing abortion
(Okay that last one’s kind of a cheap shot, but it was on a hand-out, I swear. Can you believe that dude’s their hero?)
The people I spoke to, the rank and file, if you will, acted as if they simply never been challenged to defend their beliefs. Like when I asked Shandra Cipriano what makes her a conservative. Stammering, as if she couldn’t believe the question, she answered, “I honestly think I just kind of came out that way.” No specific issues, Shandra? No pivotal experiences? Nope. This complacency of belief was not unique to Shandra; George Higgins, Nevada state chair of the College Republicans, answered the same question with the same answer. He said, “Well I guess it was because I was born a conservative, raised a conservative.”
That complacency, though, is fast disappearing among these young conservatives. I sat in on the Young America’s Foundation leadership training seminar, which focused on how to increase College Republican membership on campuses. There were some fundamental tips on crowd-building, arranging speaking engagements, etc. But the most disquieting part dealt with messaging. The trainer suggested using the following phrases on posters announcing events.
- “Feminazis beware.”
- “What women really want.”
- “Where are my reparations?”
Read that last one again. That’s right: The new downtrodden class is the white, Christian, male. I know, I know – it’s an extreme statement used to garner attention, a simple media trick. That’s true, but still: That phrase – “Where are my reparations?” – does a pretty good job of summing up the tenor of the CRNC. Speaker after speaker lined up to assure these young conservatives that professors despise them, administrators shun them, and fellow students regard them with skeptical eyes. “You are oppressed,” speakers would say. “And you are entitled to retribution.”
With such a non-stop barrage of rhetoric, any complacency that might exist among these College Republicans is soon to disappear. Any compassion in their conservatism melts, only to magically come back for the election cycle.
How then should I have reacted to the woman who scowled at me as I walked past with my CRNC sign? I’m still not quite sure. Rolling up the sign and hitting her with it is one option I could have taken. I could have reached for one of several verbal barbs, too. Or I could have looked quietly away, saving my pent-up energy to direct it where I could make a tangible difference: the college campus. I can picture the YAF rep telling me, “That woman is a lost cause. Aim for the next generation.”
Ultimately I averted my eyes and continued walking – not to preserve my energy but out of sheer embarassment. The subway yielded further difficult moments. It was a trying commute, for sure. But as I marched into the office and dumped my swag all over the desk, I realized the moment of triumph was at hand. Survival – not only of the commute, but of the CRNC, too. Smiling, I pinned my shiny new Reagan poster to the wall: “…And we saw the world change before our eyes…”
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