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Isaiah McGee
Isaiah McGee, an African American former member of the Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee, is defending U.S. Rep. Steve King‘s recent statements about President Barack Obama having “a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race, on the side that favors the black person.”
McGee, who also serves as Mayor Pro-tem of Waukee and president of the African American Business Association, is the first Republican official to comment publicly on King’s statements. Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn and 3rd District congressional candidate Brad Zaun declined to comment when contacted by The Des Moines Register.
In an opinion piece published at The Iowa Republican, McGee says when put in context, King’s comments were correct.
Looking at the context of the interview, King was explicitly referring to Obama’s swift condemnation of the Cambridge officer acting “stupidly” toward Professor Skip Gates. Congressman King is right. Obama made a rash decision to condemn the officer, not because he was sticking up for a friend or fellow academic, but rather there has been a history in which black people have felt harassed by police for nothing other than being black and Obama assumed that this was the case in this situation. The irony is in Obama siding with Gates, he himself profiled the situation. Could it be that profiling and stereotyping is indeed innate? We profile, we stereotype because it helps us to make sense of things.
The outrage towards King’s comments provide an example of how difficult it is to discuss race in our society, McGee said, concluding that when “someone like Congressman King says, ‘OK let’s talk about race, here’s what I think,’ the reaction is fierce, brash and frequently close minded.”
King’s comments, which he made during an appearance on G. Gordon Liddy’s national radio program, have been greeted by outrage. The Iowa Democratic Party is demanding that Republicans denounce King’s words, and U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, called the comments “deplorable.” A GOP congressional candidate and tea party group in Colorado pulled the plug on events this weekend where King was supposed to appear, saying his statements, “don’t align with the mission and vision” of the tea party movement.
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