A conservative PAC is using the lynching of innocent Black men and the Black community’s sordid history with the medical industry to generate votes for Republican candidates.
A radio ad endorsing Arkansas Congressman French Hill featured what sounds like two Black women expressing their concerns should he lose the election, reports BuzzFeed News.
This is a real radio ad currently running in Arkansas in support of Republican Congressman French Hill on radio stations targeted to the African American community. I don't even have words to describe it. pic.twitter.com/vpzt1nGPlc
— (((Ben Tribbett))) (@notlarrysabato) October 18, 2018
"If the Democrats can do that to a white justice of the Supreme Court with no evidence, no corroboration and all of her witnesses including her best friend say it didn't happen, what will happen to our husbands, our fathers or our sons when a white girl lies on them?" asks one woman.
“Girl, white Democrats will be lynching Black folk again," the other one answers.
The ad concludes with a warning about white women making false rape accusations.
"We can't afford to let white Democrats take us back to bad old days of race verdicts, life sentences and lynchings when a white girl screams rape," one of the women says.
Hill condemned the ad on Twitter.
Some may have heard an appalling ad on the radio. I condemn this outrageous ad in the strongest terms. I do not support that message, and there is no place in Arkansas for this nonsense.
— French Hill (@ElectFrench) October 18, 2018
Hill’s opponent, Clarke Turner, blamed Hill’s campaign for creating the climate for the ad.
Rep. Hill & his allies will have to live with the kind of campaign they're running. This radio ad is disgraceful & has no place in our society. We won't let these shameful tactics distract us from our fight to stand up for the people in #AR02 on the critical issues in our lives. https://t.co/KErJAOdsel
— Clarke Tucker (@clarketucker) October 18, 2018
A similar radio ad has been broadcast in Missouri. This version targets incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill and omits the word “lynching,” according to McClatchy.
In the ad, a woman accused McCaskill of not caring “that Black babies are aborted three times more likely than white babies.” Josh Hawley is the candidate the women in the ad prefer.
“Josh Hawley and the Republicans know that Black babies matter… And it looks like to me the only Black lives that matter to Claire McCaskill are the ones that have a pulse and can make it to the polls to vote for her,” one woman said.
One woman incorrectly claimed 60 percent of Black babies are aborted in New York, and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger “created Planned Parenthood to exterminate Black folks.”
Hawley nor McCaskill have addressed the advertisements.
The ads have been met with backlash and accusations of racism.
Idk how they packed this much sexist, racist divide & conquer condescension into only 60 seconds. Deeply pity the #WOC who colluded w/ #FrenchHill to make it—hope they save whatever they were paid bc they’ll need it for healthcare & all else if repubs win. https://t.co/HbbqhfZR0a
— Sarah Jones (@yesimsarahjones) October 18, 2018
Everything wrong with politics in one ad. Oh, and it’s also horribly racist. pic.twitter.com/EPh7whk2uP
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 19, 2018
The ad is egregiously racist in tenor, tone and message. It features the voices of who we are to assume are two black women who sound strangely like Diamond and Silk—the sock puppet black women Trump supporters.https://t.co/BOqTe0lobx
— Auntie Monique (@thejournalista) October 19, 2018
Prevent lynchings, elect Republicans. SMH
This ad gets an Oscar for the most outrageously racist political ad of 2018. Jaw-dropping.
The candidate should not only renounce this ad but pay for ads educating the public on the history of lynchings & modern policing. https://t.co/FR7bd6NyuQ
— Cornell William Brooks (@CornellWBrooks) October 19, 2018
Both ads are paid for by Black Americans for the President's Agenda, an organization founded in February by Black conservative politician Vernon Robinson. They are commonly played on radio stations with a predominantly Black audience.
Robinson is undeterred by the outcry.
“What’s racist about the ad? Nobody’s been able to tell me yet,” he said. “It’s an effective ad. Nobody cares about a wimpy ad. People only care about ads if they’re effective.”
Although Robinson and the PAC’s chairwoman, Jill Upson, are Black, the majority of donors are wealthy white people, according to Think Progress.
The PAC reportedly spent $50,000 on the ads, and they will run through Friday.
“We have a plan, we’re executing the plan,” Robinson told The Associated Press.
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