My Letter to the Poughkeepsie Journal

I read the Poughkeepsie Journal everyday and recently had this letter published on the hate filled candidacy of Carl Paladino. What does it say about NY state Republicans who would support this truly loathsome character?

Paladino's actions disqualify him


Sadly, once again we have seen racism and bigotry rear their ugly heads with this year's electoral races. We have seen, for example, a white supremacist running for Congress in New York's 18th District. And in the race for governor, we have the Republican candidate, Carl Paladino, who has displayed bigotry by referring to poor, unemployed people as lacking in hygiene, by referring to a Jewish Assembly leader, Shelly Silver, as an "anti-Christ," and most nefariously, by making blatantly racist jokes.

What does it say about the character of a man who would think amusing, images of President Obama as a pimp, Obama's supporters as dancing African tribesmen, and images that refer to black people using the racist "N" word? Paladino's supporters, seeing him as representing a needed potential shakeup of Albany, are quick to forgive him for forwarding e-mails containing these images, but the fact remains that Paladino has demonstrated extremely poor judgment. His actions were racist, and in the context of his campaign, are confrontationally so.

The rest of us have a choice, which is to stand up to racism and confront it or to tacitly condone it. Paladino's supporters and his fellow Republicans who do not condemn Paladino's racist behavior are themselves guilty of racism, no matter what their reason for support for Carl Paladino. Blatant racism — like a record of political corruption — ought to automatically disqualify one from holding public office.

Tom Conroy
Beacon