Bay Area Houston

Ray Ciccarelli is/was a NASCAR driver. NASCAR gave him the perfect excuse to leave the sport, banning the confederate flag from it’s properties. That includes the parking lot, the stands, the pits, and cars. Ciccarelli took a stand and has announced he is leaving. Up until now no one knew who he was. Much like what the confederate flag symbolizes, Ray wasn’t a winner.

Ray is what we call “filler” in sports. He was there to fill out the crowd on the track. No one wants to see a race between the top 10 drivers. A race with 20 or more is much more exciting. NASCAR gave Ray a great excuse to bow out of a sport he wasn’t very good at. I am sure NASCAR will miss him dearly.

If you ever been to a NASCAR race the confederate flag is everywhere. My first trip to a track included sitting behind a guy with a t-shirt that said “You fly yours, I’ll fly mine”. Whatever bitch.

Here is a quick video of Ray’s car catching fire. Luckily Ray was fine.

It’s got to be bad when the top republican in the state calls for the resignation of 2 Republican county chairs. Greg Abbott did just that and they have told him to buzz off. The Chair of the Texas Republican Party has also asked all 5 chairs to resign.

Bexar County GOP Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm, Harris County GOP Chairman-Elect Keith Nielsen, Harrison County GOP Chair Lee Lester, Nueces County GOP Chairman Jim Kaelin, and Comal County GOP Chairwoman Sue Gafford Piner posted racist meme and/or conspiracy theories to their Facebook pages.  Abbott has called for the resignation of Brehm and Kaelin. Here is the status of each:

Harris County GOP Chairman-Elect Keith Nielsen. Resigned before taking office. Removed from his position as Pasadena Planning Commissioner.

Nueces County GOP Chairman Jim Kaelin. Has refused to step down even after Abbott asked him to.

Bexar County GOP Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm. Has refused to step down even after Abbott asked her to.

Comal County GOP Chairwoman Sue Gafford Piner. Has refused to step down but has bravely stepped away from Facebook.

Harrison County GOP Chair Lee Lester. Has refused to step down.

No Place but Texas. Literally.

A precinct chair in Galveston County, Kevin Holland II, just couldn’t let a peaceful march against racism go without an ill advised statement or following it up with another one, and then explaining in a “fun” way. While people of all colors, young and old, male and female, gathered in the hot sun to call for changes to protect people of color as well as our police men and women, this guy had to have a laugh.

Kevin joined another elected official, the Chair elect of the Harris County Republican Party, Keith Nielsen, who posted a racist meme to his Facebook page. Keith has since resigned and he was removed as Chair of the Pasadena Planning Committee. Showing off your racism almost always leads to bad things happening to you. Americans do not like racists, white supremacists,  or nazis. 

Americans and the military fight to support our rights to peacefully protest. They also fight to support the rights of people who want to make racist memes or statements, but that does not guarantee a place at the table. In fact it might guarantee an escort through the door.

Joking about racism isn’t funny. Ask Keith.

UPDATE: The precinct chair’s Facebook posts have been removed. He should now resign his position and take some time to reflect on the moment.

It’s sad that we have to remind the members of the Republican Party that racism is bad. Very bad. In fact it has never been anything but bad. Some of the Chairs of the Republican Party are learning the hard way, case in point the newly elected chair of the Harris County Republican Party, Keith Nielsen.

Keith posted a racist meme (which has been removed) on Facebook quoting Martin Luther King. The meme also had a pic of a banana next to the Black civil rights leader’s quote. It wasn’t a fruit salad, or a medley of fresh tropical fruits and he wasn’t in the middle of a well balanced meal when he created the meme. It was a banana. It was racist. We know it. He knows it. The Pasadena City Council knows it and took action.

Keith is, or was, the Chair of the Pasadena Planning Commission. City Council Member Cody Ray Wheeler called on the Mayor to remove him. From his letter to the Mayor:

I am writing to demand the removal of Keith Nielsen from the Pasadena, Texas Planning Commission following his racist social media post.  

In a city with a dark history of racial oppression, the former home of the Ku Klux Klan, it is our duty as leaders to remove racism in every form, stem and root. In the midst of national outrage over the murders of people of color, Keith Nielsen’s recent actions have done nothing but fan the flames and cause more harm to the people of our community. I urge you to Immediately strip Keith Nelsen from his position so we can move on from this disgrace and begin the healing process. Every day Keith Nielsen remains, is an endorsement of his racist views and cast a dark shadow over our city and your leadership. 

It is incumbent on all of us, that no position of power be held by a person with racist views.

Leave it to Congressman Dan Crenshaw to call for the resignation of the newly elected Chair of the Republican Party while turning a blind eye to the racist at the top of the party. From The Texas Tribune:

U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican, said in a statement to the Tribune that “Nielsen has no place in our party. Not now. Not ever” — and called his post “a sad reminder that such blatant ignorance and bigotry still exists.”

Someone ought to tell Crenshaw to look to the White House for racism in his party. It’s coming from the top, Dan. It’s coming from the White House, Dan. It’s coming from your f***ing party. Man up and call for the resignation of the leader of the Republican Party not just the lowly Chair of the county party.

County Chair, Keith Nielsen, posted a clearly racist meme with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King and a banana. In his defense he stated:

“It is unfortunate that the sentiment of the quote and my admiration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been overshadowed by people’s misinterpretation of an image.”

There is no other reason for putting a banana in a meme of a Black civil rights leader. None. At all. Zero. Zip. Nada. He should resign. Immediately. And take his flag pin and cross with him.

The old saying “Not every republican is a racist, but every racist is a republican.” isn’t true anymore.

The Bexar County Chair of the Republican Party Cynthia Brehm posted on Facebook a conspiracy theory that the killing of George Floyd was a setup to make Trump look bad. (As if he needs any help) This isn’t her first racist rodeo and the Governor has asked for her resignation. Lucky for her she was elected by republicans in Bexar County. They haven’t called for anything except for pizza delivery.

She wasn’t alone. Nieces County Republican Party Chair, Jim Kaelin, shared the same post and Sue Piner, chair of the Comal County GOP also posted a racist meme. From The Texas Tribune:

Even later Thursday, Democrats also criticized a fourth post from a GOP chair on Facebook. Sue Piner, chair of the Comal County GOP, shared a post on Sunday that included an image of liberal billionaire George Soros and text that said, “I pay white cops to murder black people. And then I pay black people to riot because race wars keep the sheep in line.”

And then there is the newly elected Harris County Republican Party Chair,  Keith Nielsen. He deserves a post all for himself.

Every republican is a racist.

Click pic for dog whistle video

Ask Judge Ed Emmett what happens when you stand with a racist and keep your mouth shut.

Kathaleen Wall is a candidate endorsed by Governor Abbott, spending her own money to win a seat in Congress, and has recently sent out a racist ad concerning the Coronavirus. She is in a runoff in CD22 against Fort Bend Sheriff Tony Nehls.

When your opponent, or someone you know, says something that is racially dividing or just plain racist, you have two options. 1) Denounce it. Say it is wrong. Say the statement does not represent you, your campaign, or the party. or 2) Stay quiet as if you agree.

Judge Emmett stayed quiet while his leader made racist comments over and over again. He lost his job in 2018. Nehls has been quiet. Not a peep out of him. Zero. Zip. Nada. The Texas Democratic Party as well as the Democratic nominee for CD22 has not been quiet. From a press conference:

From Donald Trump to John Cornyn to Kathaleen Wall, Republicans everywhere have taken to racist dog-whistles to distract from their mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis. This racist rhetoric is dangerous to our Texas AAPI community, the fastest growing community in the state, and has already caused a “spike in prejudice” against Asian Americans. 

It’s as if Tony Nehls, Greg Abbott, John Cornyn, and the entire Republican Party agrees with racist Walls. It’s who they are. It’s what they have become.

The calls for the resignation of the chair of the Galveston County Republican Party continue except from the official party itself. Instead, after being silenced by their own party, precinct chairs, independent of the party, has written a statement calling for the Chair’s resignation.

A Facebook post from one of the chairs explains. (see below)

“The following statement is made on behalf of the individual precinct chairs signed below and is not an official statement or resolution made on behalf of the Galveston County Republican Party Executive Committee as a whole.”

“We strongly condemn intolerance, bigotry, or racism in any manner.” (except for Mexicans, Muslims, Blacks, Asian Americans, and anyone that isn’t white, but other than that they will not tolerate racism!)

This is a statement from the Galveston County Republican Party Precinct Chairs regarding the actions of the County Chair Yolanda Waters:

Many of us precinct chairs had hoped to formally address the matter regarding the County Chair’s inappropriate text communications through an official party meeting. Previous attempts to address our concerns were met with equivocation and defiance. The County Chair chose to squash the latest effort through an opinion from GCRP Attorney Tom Dickens that called the meeting call “defective and therefore void.” The opinion further suggested she “file suit and ask the Court to enter a Temporary Restraining Order” against the Precinct Chairs who called for the meeting.

Given these efforts to silence the Precinct Chairs, we instead chose to informally dine together at the previously chosen location. A consensus emerged from those Precinct Chairs in attendance to sign on to the following letter regarding the text communications of our County Chair. The short version is that it calls for the resignation of the County Chair; the full text is below:

“The following statement is made on behalf of the individual precinct chairs signed below and is not an official statement or resolution made on behalf of the Galveston County Republican Party Executive Committee as a whole.

We the undersigned Galveston County Republican Party Precinct Chairs strongly advocate for the opportunity for all Texans and Americans to participate in the political process. We strongly condemn intolerance, bigotry, or racism in any manner. It recently became known that The Galveston County Republican Party Chair, Dr. Yolanda Waters, used a racial slur in a text message. We condemn this message and hereby call for the immediate resignation of Galveston County Republican Party Chair Yolanda Waters.”

It was signed by 16 Precinct Chairs in attendance, and others have since indicated their desire to sign.

The Galveston Daily News just published an article about this issue. We submitted a copy of this letter to the Daily News, and we have informed them there will be more signatures to add as we contact those who did not have the opportunity to meet us for lunch today.