Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:07 pm
On his radio show today, Rush Limbaugh went used Newsweek’s story about babies’ abilities to distinguish race to defend racism. Rush asked, “How much sensitivity training have we had starting with the Civil War? You can’t get very more sensitive than the Civil War.” According to Limbaugh, the Civil War was a sensitivity training exercise.
Here is the audio courtesy of Media Matters:
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Limbaugh said, “If homosexuality being inborn is what makes it acceptable why does racism being inborn not make racism acceptable? I’m sorry that’s just the way my mind works. Apparently now we don’t choose racism, we just are racists. We are born that way, we don’t choose it, so shouldn’t it be acceptable? This is according to the way the Left thinks about things. Well no, sensitivity training can not cure racism. If sensitivity training could cure racism there wouldn’t be any. How much sensitivity training have we had about racism starting with the Civil War? You can’t get very more sensitive than the Civil War and following we’ve had the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act…”
I am sure it is very surprising for historians and Civil War buffs to learn that the Civil War was nothing but a sensitivity training exercise. It is interesting that Rush is couching his argument for racism being acceptable in the language of the Left. I don’t think that it was the left talking there. According to Limbaugh racism should be acceptable, and Civil War and civil rights legislation weren’t really necessary. They were national sensitivity training, and Rush wonders why people call him a racist.
He was close to taking it completely over the edge and arguing that slavery wasn’t so bad, and there was nothing wrong with Jim Crow laws. This is one of the most racist arguments that you will ever hear. I don’t know if even Pat Buchanan would go as far as Rush did today. Limbaugh not only devalued the Civil War, but demeaned the civil rights movement.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
