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A Look at Ron Paul's Newsletters

By Tabitha Fleming, published Jan 10, 2008
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"The criminals who terrorized our cities-in riots and on every non-riot day-are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are. As children they are trained to hate whites, to believe that white oppression is responsible for all black ills, to 'fight the power,' to steal and loot as much money from the white enemy as possible. Anything is justified against 'The Man.'" This quoted text from the Ron Paul Political Report, typifies the sort of writing that has been the focus of major news investigations and debate.

Damning evidence to be sure, but did Paul actually write it? Do we now have a major political candidate who openly voiced racist views?

According to The New Republic, Ron Paul has been publishing newsletters since as far back as 1978. The titles of the newsletters have varied, including Ron Paul's Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, and The Ron Paul Survival Report.

The New Republic notes that this is not the first time that Paul's newsletters have come back to haunt him. During a 1996 political run for a House Seat, some other quotes were brought to the limelight, quotes that were then dismissed as "out of context," by Paul's campaign. It wasn't until 2001; the New Republic reported that Paul would say that someone else had actually written the controversial passages.

The newsletter, which does carry Paul's name at the top doesn't have a byline, so it is immediately inferred that these writings are those of Ron Paul's. He says in a brief, Reason Magazine interview that he didn't write anything like this quote from the page eight of the newsletter, "Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings, and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers."

A Look at Ron Paul's Newsletters

Ron Paul. (This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.)

Credit: Rev. Richard B. Deyoung II

Copyright: Rev. Richard B. Deyoung II, via Wikimedia

Takeaways
  • Ron Paul has been publishing newsletters since as far back as 1978.
  • "Black men commit murders..." from the Ron Paul Political Report, 1992
  • Paul says that he "can't" be racist.
Comments
Comments 1 - 15 of 17
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Great reporting! Monique: Well said!

Posted on 02/06/2008 at 8:02:00 AM

 
I think this was a well written piece discussing different sides of the Ron Paul issue. Brett... the war on drugs has been a waste of tax payer dollars since it's conception.

Posted on 01/21/2008 at 4:01:01 PM

 
Hold on, he wants to stop the War on Drugs? Oh dear, it seems that the criminals have finally realized the power of their votes.

Posted on 01/15/2008 at 6:01:59 PM

 
Author of Ron Paul Newsletters Disclosed: Lew Rockwell: Cowardly Animal and Bigot There is no one who has done more damage to the Ron Paul campaign than Rockwell. It's almost too late for apologies and repentance. If social ostracism is the only remedy, he should be banished. http://www.nolanchart.com/article1117.html

Posted on 01/13/2008 at 3:01:08 AM

 
I wrote this article, because it's interesting, also interesting is Ron Paul's political views and history. Seriously though, there is nothing less appealing than a bunch of people who seem blinded by "feelings" and "convictions" that lack the ability to make intelligent statements about them. (FYI claiming that this article has anything to do with the owners of www.associatedcontent.com is one of those intelligence lacking statements.) They don't pay me enough to be part of a conspiracy!

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 2:01:12 PM

 
Man they weren't kidding when they called it a Ron Paul Revolution - shall we be expecting guillotines soon for anyone who is opposed to Ron Paul?

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 1:01:54 PM

 
This is just a bunch of propaganda directed at Dr. Paul because he can no longer be written off as a kook. He is legitimate and the Neo-Con GOP fear him. They should because he stands for smaller government and individual liberties. That scares the hell out of the Neo-Cons and anyone else in Big Government. I don't consider myself a PaulBot, but I do like what he stands for. I hate to see a good man slandered like this.

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 11:01:08 AM

 
i have a friend who was a big paul guy but stopped supporting him because of it. his name is robert switzer and he writes here, search his name to see his article on the matter. personally paul sounds truthful and i know that propaganda comes from both sides ie the kerry swiftboat incident so i really dont know who to believe. it sucks because i like a lot of what paul says but with this i just dont know. i think i need to watch him speak more to try and determine what kind of character he really has

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 9:01:43 AM

 
John McCain was racist in the SC debate, read it here: http://www.nolanchart.com/article1084.html Unfortunately it took segregationist Governor Wallace to reveal the truth that "there's not a dime's worth of difference between" Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats willingly went along with the War in Iraq, suspension of Habeas Corpus, detaining protesters, banning books like "America Deceived' from Amazon, stealing private lands (Kelo decision), warrant-less wiretapping and refusing to investigate 9/11 properly. They are both guilty of treason. Support Dr. Ron Paul and save this great nation. Last link (before Google Books bends to gov't Will and drops the title): http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-38523-0

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 8:01:08 AM

 
The claims about Ron Paul being "anti-semitic" are based on the fact that he wants to cut off the billions of dollars in yearly aid the United States gives to Israel - but he also wants to end military aid to Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. Anyone who says something negative about Israel is conveniently labelled an "anti-semitic." As for the newsletters, perhaps he just mistakenly trusted the people writing for him; if a newsletter was published under my name, I'd read the entire newsletter before allowing each issue to be printed, but Libertarians aren't like that...

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 7:01:52 AM

 
Hm, has there been any concerns of his racism before? Yes, actually there has, there's been quite a few - that's why I wrote an article about his potential anti-Semitism. Here's the crazy thing about Paulbots: they're so rooted in worship to him now, that it doesn't matter what he said, it's either now right because he said it, or you're wrong for bringing it up.

Posted on 01/12/2008 at 1:01:32 AM

 
I didn't read the newletters in question, but of what you posted, what isn't true? Sure, it could have been worded better, but that doesn't make it all that far from the truth. "The criminals who terrorized our cities-in riots and on every non-riot day-are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are" -ever looked up crime stats? go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm (US justice Dept. website) if you question it. Sure, there are reasons minorities commit more crimes, but they still commit more crimes. " As children they are trained to hate whites..." -this is a blanket statement that obviously isn't appropriate, but it DOES apply to at least a portion of African Americans. I have black family members, black friends, and I have worked with black inmates in a high security prison. I can tell you first hand that many ARE taught (from family or from the street) that whites are the enemy. There IS reverse racism in this country but you dare not speak

Posted on 01/11/2008 at 11:01:20 PM

 
Have you ever heard anything that Ron Paul has ever said, or any part of his public service over the past 25 years that even remotey could be interpreted as racist? Or do you actually believe that it was his plan all along to just pretend to be a champion of individual rights, limited government and strict adherence to the golden rule for almost 3 decades just so he could get elected President and then usher in his "Guv'mint for Whitey"? At a certain point it becomes almost impossible to seperate semi-honestly written articles from pieces from The Onion.

Posted on 01/11/2008 at 10:01:42 PM

 
Whether he wrote them or not, his name was on them and clearly, someone within his staff was responsible. The fact that over 20 years of these letters exist does not bode well for him. Either he wrote them, he let someone else write them with his name, or he was so grossly negligent to the activities of a newsletter with his name that he didn't have a clue. In any case, the man isn't GOD as so many of his followers seem to believe him to be. He also did a terrible job with this. Before, I thought he was nuts. Now, I think he's a bad person.

Posted on 01/11/2008 at 9:01:02 PM

 
Don't worry, Tabitha...they said the same exact things about my Ron Paul piece. I just want Ron Paul to "man up" about the newsletters.

Posted on 01/11/2008 at 7:01:10 PM

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