They told us\u00a0we were supposed to change the world. They told us to run for office. They told us not to say racist things on Facebook. No wait, they didn\u2019t tell us that, and Robert Saunders, running for state legislature, is learning this\u00a0the hard way.<\/p>\n
Saunders and I were both raised\u00a0in an environment that mixed evangelicalism and conservative politics to the extent that the two became indistinguishable. And we were both homeschooled. For many, homeschooling is simply a method for giving their child an individualized, flexible, and\/or hands-on education. For evangelical Christians, though, it\u2019s more than that. It\u2019s a way to raise up a new generation to retake the country for Christ, both culturally and politically.<\/p>\n
Saunders attended Patrick Henry College, which was founded by Michael Farris in 2000. My parents gave money to this college, and sent me to a summer program there while I was in high school. While we sat in a lecture hall, Farris gestured this way and that, telling us that those sitting on the left would become Congressmen, and those on the right would become Senators, and those in the center would sit on the Supreme Court or be future presidents. This was his dream\u2014to launch young evangelical conservative homeschool graduates\u00a0into politics. Saunders is the fruit of that dream.<\/p>\n
Except that scandal has now enveloped Saunders\u2019 campaign for state legislature in Billings, Montana. The controversy surrounds remarks Saunders has made in person and on Facebook while at Patrick Henry College and in the following years. Yesterday\u00a0the allegations grew worse<\/a>, and surrounded not reports of things he\u2019d said in private but rather posts he\u2019d made on Facebook.<\/p>\n Reacting to a black peer\u2019s allegation that in 2005 Saunders told her he would have owned her 100 years ago, alumni of Patrick Henry College posted the Republican\u2019s offensive remarks about the 2014 race riots in Ferguson, Mo.<\/p>\n Of the riots sparked by the police shooting of a black teenager, Saunders posted on Facebook: \u201cI am thankful that justice prevailed in this situation and was not swayed by the tide of racism against whites.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, I\u2019m disappointed that the citizens of Missouri didn\u2019t protect the livelihoods of their own from rioters and looters. That, after all, is one of the principal reasons for the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe citizens of Missouri should have loaded up and protected each other, shot anyone who attempted to vandalize, and made sure to finish them off with two rounds through the brain.<\/p>\n \u201cElimination of those people in self-defense would probably have cut Missouri\u2019s welfare handouts \u2014 and long-term crime rate \u2014 considerably.\u201d<\/p>\n Saunders\u2019 statements were posted to The Gazette Facebook page by Patrick Henry College alumni Carman Green, who was commenting on an article about allegations made last week by former Saunders classmates Erin Eskew and Stuart Lundy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n These remarks are damaging\u00a0enough that\u00a0Montana Republican Party Chairman Jeff Essmann repudiated them and Saunders\u00a0has issued an apology.\u00a0The language of both\u00a0the repudiation and\u00a0the apology is troubling\u2014more on that in a moment\u2014but I feel the need to note that this language is not that far outside of what I heard growing up. I was taught that all people were equal, regardless of race, but I was also taught\u00a0that white people are the ones who face discrimination in the present. I was also taught that it was \u201cblack culture\u201d that held black people back, and that this culture included\u00a0an ethic of crime and dependence.<\/p>\n My father used to say that\u00a0white males were the most discriminated against group in our society, and he would tell my brothers that black people and women would always be hired over them. Once he complained about a black female colleague at work, calling her incompetent and claiming that she had only been hired\u00a0because of her race and gender. I was also raised in a culture that embraced guns for self-defense, not only of one\u2019s person but also of one\u2019s home. My parents told us\u00a0that if an intruder ever stepped foot in our house, we were to shoot and shoot to kill\u2014and that\u2019s a standard Republican position.<\/p>\n I\u2019m getting tired of Republicans repudiating remarks and comments that aren\u2019t substantially\u00a0out of line with what they\u2019re already saying, if at all. The repudiated remarks and comments are simply\u00a0more blunt\u2014blunt enough to make the ultimate result of mainstream Republican policy and rhetoric clear. Republicans concerned about comments like Saunders\u2019 need to get at the root of the problem rather than flailing about with individual branches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Let\u2019s look at\u00a0Montana Republican Party Chairman Jeff Essmann\u2019s repudiation:<\/p>\n This is a textbook example for young people for taking a pause in the heat of the moment before posting comments like these on social media. Taking a life is only justified as a means of defending a life.\u00a0Mr. Saunders\u2019 outburst, which he himself has repudiated, does not represent the values of the Montana Republican Party. Mr. Saunders has stated his error, repudiated his own statement, and asked for forgiveness. It will be up to the voters to decide if he\u2019s learned from the experience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wait wait wait. Is Essmann honestly saying that the problem was that Saunders put his comments down in print,<\/em> rather than that he had those thoughts to begin with? Look, I\u2019m not comfortable with people having hella racist thoughts even \u201cin the heat of the moment,\u201d whether or not they later think better of making their thoughts public.\u00a0I wouldn\u2019t want to elect an official who thinks those things but doesn\u2019t say them any more than I\u2019d want to elect an official who both thinks and says those things. Methinks Essmann\u2019s priorities are askew.<\/p>\n [Note: Yes, everyone sometimes thinks bad thoughts. Most of us learn how to manage these thoughts and not let them effect our behavior. But Saunders\u2019 thoughts, even if he had kept them mere thoughts and not stated them publicly, put his racism on stark display, and he has said nothing at all that would suggest that he is aware of or combatting these internal biases. Think about it this way\u2014would you want to elect a man who was constantly thinking about women as nasty bitches, regardless of what his stated policy on women\u2019s issues was?]<\/p>\n Beyond this, all Essmann\u2019s objections aside, a quick look around the internet suggests\u00a0that Saunders\u2019 comments may be\u00a0exactly<\/em> in line with<\/a> the values of the<\/a> Montana Republican Party. Perhaps Essmann is trying to change these values, but change is difficult if one can\u2019t admit that there\u2019s a problem that needs changing there to begin with.<\/p>\n How did Saunders\u2019 respond to his comments becoming public?<\/p>\n Saunders took ownership of the Ferguson comments Tuesday in a conversation with The Gazette. He also published a lengthy explanation on his campaign Facebook page.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something I said when I was upset. I had just read an article about a business owner, a black lady. It was vandals who destroyed her business,\u201d Saunders said. He logged onto to Facebook and posted what called a \u201csnarky potshot.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n First, throwing out that one of the business owners who suffered vandalism was black does not make the comments not racist (as Saunders appears to think). Second, it\u2019s not okay to say hella racist things even when you\u2019re upset<\/em>. And finally, Saunders\u2019\u00a0long Facebook apology is actually\u00a0an explainy not-apology<\/a>. It\u2019s also completely clueless as to\u00a0why people are upset. It hammers home both Saunders\u2019 racism and his complete lack of introspection or understanding of why his beliefs are wrong, problematic, and downright dangerous. It only makes things worse<\/em>. I mean for goodness sake, he begins\u00a0it \u201cThe secret is out: I am a flawed person.\u201d That language is intentional, because we all know that everyone<\/em> has flaws. So basically, he\u2019s just like us. Except not<\/em>.<\/p>\n Interestingly, I started out on the same path Saunders is on. I planned to go into politics and change the world, championing\u00a0conservative values and conservative principles. When I won my first political office, I was barely old enough to vote. It was a small, local office that was party-affiliated, but it was to be just the first step of my career as a political change maker. Longterm, I hoped to marry a good, upstanding politically active conservative evangelical man like Saunders and support\u00a0his<\/em> political career, because something something gender roles. But I attended\u00a0a college that challenged me to think for myself and examine my premises. Saunders did not. Instead, Saunders attended Patrick Henry College.<\/p>\n Patrick Henry College Chancellor Michael Farris told The Gazette the comments attributed to Saunders are reprehensible, and don\u2019t represent the young man who as an undergrad played racquetball with Farris.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew Robert as a student and all I can say is I have never heard him say anything that is inappropriate or would be troubling to me as a voter,\u201d Farris said. \u201cHe\u2019s a very passionate guy and he says what he believes. We\u2019ve all said things as students that we wish we wouldn\u2019t have said.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Someone needs to tell Farris he isn\u2019t helping with his \u201che says what he believes\u201d bit. But also, does Farris realize that never having been made uncomfortable by anything Saunders said speaks badly of Farris,<\/em> and not well of Saunders? Saunders\u2019 views were so notoriously bad while he was at Patrick Henry College that he gained the nickname<\/a> \u201cLittle Hitler\u201d among his own classmates<\/em>. He advocated in favor of involuntary servitude and a return to serfdom. He argued that Muslims should be deported, forced to convert to Christianity, or executed. Farris was either not listening very closely, or his views are worse than I\u2019d thought.<\/p>\n In thinking back on\u00a0what I learned from Farris and other conservative political figures, I\u2019m struck by the role race played in political rhetoric and position-making. As far as I can tell, the only time race was discussed\u00a0was to deride affirmative action or to call for cutting welfare. We were taught that all races are equal before God, yes, and magazines with an evangelical bent sometimes put a spotlight on black churches or black ministries. But when it came to politics, what we were taught\u00a0about race\u2014and the way race was discussed\u2014fed directly into the racist mindset held by Saunders.<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n