SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
RECOMMENDED...
The Hate Elephant image by freelance illustrator Woody Harrington.
Oops: Alabama GOP "Mistakenly" Goes Full KKK
Hey, we all make mistakes, especially creepy, subliminal, deeply racist ones in the South. So it's understandable that a few weeks after a Georgia school district chose a new school logo that looks just like the Nazi eagle, an Alabama county GOP posted an image of their party's elephant with KKK hoods between its legs The local NAACP wants the GOP official, who's also on the school board, to resign for saying the quiet part out loud. But he's declined, saying he simply goofed by rushing to cut and paste the image - from an article titled, "The Republican Party Is Racist and Soulless."
Aug 19, 2022
Hey, we all make mistakes, especially creepy, subliminal, deeply racist ones in a South that still likely longs to rise again. So it's entirely understandable that a few weeks after a Georgia school district excitedly unveiled a new elementary school logo "to honor the history of our great school" that looks just like the Nazi eagle, an Alabama county GOP posted an image of their party's elephant with KKK hoods between its legs, thus "accidentally" saying the quiet, awful part out loud about a party increasingly indistinguishable from fascists and white nationalists. The Facebook post from the Lawrence County GOP aimed to thank a departing county chairman for his "diligent work (to) represent your conservative values." Once the sinister hoods were pointed out by some discerning observers, the image was removed and chairman Shannon Terry offered "a deep and sincere apology" for "hidden images that do not represent the views or beliefs of the Lawrence County Republican Party." Terry said the image was hurriedly taken from a Google search, adding, "I take full responsibility for the error...I regret the mistake that was made, and it was just that - an unintended mistake."
Because irony still hasn't quite died, it turns out the image came from a 2020 piece at Mother Jones titled, "The Republican Party is Racist and Soulless," in which longtime GOP consultant Stuart Stevens blasts the modern GOP as a "cartel" that exists "for the pursuit of power for no purpose." It also turns out the image was created by illustrator Woody Harrington, who noted "the Hate Elephant has been given new life (without permission or credit, of course.") In response to the elephant's reappearance, the Lawrence County NAACP on Friday called for Terry's resignation from the school board; they argued the notion the county GOP "has Ku Klux Klan embedded within their grassroots" cannot be ignored, and Terry's credibility as a school board member has been "tainted." Still, Terry declined to resign. In a statement, he reiterated he did not "properly review a cut and paste image," insisted he does "not support or agree with any hate group agenda," and claimed he was "being incorrectly portrayed by some over this unfortunate issue." And besides, adds Crooks and Liars, in these unforgiving times, "Let those amongst us who never accidentally posted KKK imagery cast the first stone."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Abby Zimet
Abby Zimet has written CD's Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist, she moved to the Maine woods in the early 70s, where she spent a dozen years building a house, hauling water and writing before moving to Portland. Having come of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women's, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues. Email: azimet18@gmail.com
Hey, we all make mistakes, especially creepy, subliminal, deeply racist ones in a South that still likely longs to rise again. So it's entirely understandable that a few weeks after a Georgia school district excitedly unveiled a new elementary school logo "to honor the history of our great school" that looks just like the Nazi eagle, an Alabama county GOP posted an image of their party's elephant with KKK hoods between its legs, thus "accidentally" saying the quiet, awful part out loud about a party increasingly indistinguishable from fascists and white nationalists. The Facebook post from the Lawrence County GOP aimed to thank a departing county chairman for his "diligent work (to) represent your conservative values." Once the sinister hoods were pointed out by some discerning observers, the image was removed and chairman Shannon Terry offered "a deep and sincere apology" for "hidden images that do not represent the views or beliefs of the Lawrence County Republican Party." Terry said the image was hurriedly taken from a Google search, adding, "I take full responsibility for the error...I regret the mistake that was made, and it was just that - an unintended mistake."
Because irony still hasn't quite died, it turns out the image came from a 2020 piece at Mother Jones titled, "The Republican Party is Racist and Soulless," in which longtime GOP consultant Stuart Stevens blasts the modern GOP as a "cartel" that exists "for the pursuit of power for no purpose." It also turns out the image was created by illustrator Woody Harrington, who noted "the Hate Elephant has been given new life (without permission or credit, of course.") In response to the elephant's reappearance, the Lawrence County NAACP on Friday called for Terry's resignation from the school board; they argued the notion the county GOP "has Ku Klux Klan embedded within their grassroots" cannot be ignored, and Terry's credibility as a school board member has been "tainted." Still, Terry declined to resign. In a statement, he reiterated he did not "properly review a cut and paste image," insisted he does "not support or agree with any hate group agenda," and claimed he was "being incorrectly portrayed by some over this unfortunate issue." And besides, adds Crooks and Liars, in these unforgiving times, "Let those amongst us who never accidentally posted KKK imagery cast the first stone."
Abby Zimet
Abby Zimet has written CD's Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist, she moved to the Maine woods in the early 70s, where she spent a dozen years building a house, hauling water and writing before moving to Portland. Having come of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women's, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues. Email: azimet18@gmail.com
Hey, we all make mistakes, especially creepy, subliminal, deeply racist ones in a South that still likely longs to rise again. So it's entirely understandable that a few weeks after a Georgia school district excitedly unveiled a new elementary school logo "to honor the history of our great school" that looks just like the Nazi eagle, an Alabama county GOP posted an image of their party's elephant with KKK hoods between its legs, thus "accidentally" saying the quiet, awful part out loud about a party increasingly indistinguishable from fascists and white nationalists. The Facebook post from the Lawrence County GOP aimed to thank a departing county chairman for his "diligent work (to) represent your conservative values." Once the sinister hoods were pointed out by some discerning observers, the image was removed and chairman Shannon Terry offered "a deep and sincere apology" for "hidden images that do not represent the views or beliefs of the Lawrence County Republican Party." Terry said the image was hurriedly taken from a Google search, adding, "I take full responsibility for the error...I regret the mistake that was made, and it was just that - an unintended mistake."
Because irony still hasn't quite died, it turns out the image came from a 2020 piece at Mother Jones titled, "The Republican Party is Racist and Soulless," in which longtime GOP consultant Stuart Stevens blasts the modern GOP as a "cartel" that exists "for the pursuit of power for no purpose." It also turns out the image was created by illustrator Woody Harrington, who noted "the Hate Elephant has been given new life (without permission or credit, of course.") In response to the elephant's reappearance, the Lawrence County NAACP on Friday called for Terry's resignation from the school board; they argued the notion the county GOP "has Ku Klux Klan embedded within their grassroots" cannot be ignored, and Terry's credibility as a school board member has been "tainted." Still, Terry declined to resign. In a statement, he reiterated he did not "properly review a cut and paste image," insisted he does "not support or agree with any hate group agenda," and claimed he was "being incorrectly portrayed by some over this unfortunate issue." And besides, adds Crooks and Liars, in these unforgiving times, "Let those amongst us who never accidentally posted KKK imagery cast the first stone."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.