OPINION: RONALD REAGAN SHOULDN’T BE YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT

A lot of people think it’s justified and safe to say, ‘I miss the days when Republicans acted like Ronald Reagan.’ What most don’t realize is that he was truly just another bigot.

If you don’t believe me, here is some evidence:  “Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did . . . to see those, those monkeys from those African countries,” a conversation between President Nixon and Reagan cited by Renee Graham, writer for the Boston Globe.

Racial slurs weren’t the end to his racist endeavors:  “[Reagan] also signaled blatant hostility toward civil rights, supporting a state ballot initiative to allow racial discrimination in the housing market, proclaiming: ‘If an individual wants to discriminate against Negroes or others in selling or renting his house, it is his right to do so,'” Ian Haney-Lope wrote in an article for Salon.

Reagan justified white supremacy, acting as if he was trying to protect business owners’ ‘rights of refusal.’  He even ingrained his hate through his policies:

“Reagan further tarnished his record on racial equality when he vetoed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which imposed economic sanctions on South Africa that could only be lifted when that country abolished apartheid…critics pointed to his administration’s close relationship with the apartheid regime…”  Matthew Rozsa reminded Mic readers.

Ronald Reagan thought of people of color as inferior.

“‘If your ancestry is Czechoslovakian, Polish, Italian, or if you are of the Jewish faith, you may find yourself the victim of discrimination’ in favor of presumably less deserving African Americans, because of affirmative action policies,”’ Doug Rossinow informs History News Network through an article.

So, my advice to Reagan fans: he’s not as great as he seems.