How Jeff Sessions probably looked the first time he saw a free Negro. (Generated by IJG JPEG Library)
The thing you have to remember, is that most attorneys general in the history of this country were racist. I’m not just talking about the Reagan appointees or the Bush appointees. I mean that for most of this country’s history, the job of “top law enforcement officer” has been reserved for a jackboot charged with keeping minorities in their place. For every Bobby Kennedy, there are five Robert Borks or Edwin Meeses or Roger freaking Taneys.
Or John Ashcrofts. Do you remember John Ashcroft? That guy got off on torture. If justice was begging naked in his bedroom, Ashcroft would literally cover her up and look the other way.
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Donald Trump is not normal, but his pick of Jeff Session for Attorney General is entirely consistent with the biased application of law enforcement in America. Jeff Sessions isn’t just normal, he’s what we should generally expect from our chief prosecutors.
And what he is, is an “out” racist. Look, I know people — almost exclusively white people — are really into telling me who I can and cannot call racist right now. I almost admire the unshakeable confidence of white men in their ability to tell any minority how to think about the world. And while I think that when 60 million people vote for sexist bigot, you can judge them by their actions, I’ll allow that there are other people who are desperate to excuse their behavior with appeals to anything other than rank prejudice.
BUT JEFF SESSIONS ISN’T A CLOSE CASE. This motherf**ker is on the record for being a racist. This guy “jokes” about the Klan being good, except for the fact that they smoke pot. He was literally too racist for the Senate Judiciary committee to confirm him as a federal judge… IN 1986! Being too racist for white senators in 1986 is like being the plantation owner other plantation owners criticize for mistreating the slaves.
Oh, but that’s history, Trumpkins and weak-ass Democrats are likely to say: But let’s just look at Sessions in the Senate? This guy opposed hate crimes legislation, voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, is opposed to immigration reform, and opposes books — BOOKS — about Islam in schools. The guy Trump wants to be the chief justice officer in the country does not seem to support justice for anybody other than straight white males.
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Not all bigots wear hoods, folks. In fact, some are quite proud not to.
And yet… having law enforcement arrayed against me and my family is not really something “new.” I mean, we’ve had a black president and two black attorneys general for eight years and my most pressing law enforcement concern is still “Oh s**t, my blinker is out. I have to get off the road NOW before I get SHOT TO DEATH BY THE POLICE.” Having an open racist in the A.G. spot is not going to change the reality experienced by black and brown Americans when we deal with law enforcement, because we already live under the constant threat of injustice.
Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch tried to make my life better. Jeff Sessions will try to make my life worse. But they are just the generals. My immediate problem is down here in the trenches, where the people in blue uniforms are still trying to kill me.
Jeff Sessions Was Deemed Too Racist To Be A Federal Judge. He’ll Now Be Trump’s Attorney General. [Huffington Post]
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Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. Unlike weak-ass Democrats, he will resist.