Artvoice unfairly insults Ron Paul supporters

There are a lot of things that can be said about Ron Paul supporters. They are fiercely loyal, deeply passionate and highly ambitious. And this has been their year.

With more support than ever, the Texas Congressman is in the middle of the most successful of his three bids for the presidency. And he has his supporters to thank for it.

Recently an article was published locally that portrays things quite differently.

The article painted a negative portrait of Paul, describing him as racist, and his supporters were referred to as, "an odd coalition of one-percenter corporatists and anti-war pothead libertarians."

Everybody knows that politics will always be a battle. We will never all agree on everything. But this is taking things too far. The title of the article, "Ron Paul + Potheads = Racist Dopes" makes a certain statement that can be harmful to Paul's supporters, including those in Buffalo.

This blatantly negative article leaves out a few facts, like that Paul gets more donations from active duty soldiers than all the other GOP candidates and President Obama combined. Did the author simply leave out the fact that one of the most respected groups of people in the U.S. are Ron Paul supporters? Or is he accusing them of being racist potheads, too?

The publication that this article came from has a very large audience, so many people have already read this hateful description of Paul supporters. This could lead to bias and discrimination against them.

Suppose someone had a Ron Paul bumper sticker on their car or signs in the windows of their homes. What happens now that these people have been identified as "racist dopes?" That's just not fair. Stereotyping people just because they support Paul is just as bad as stereotyping someone just because they are a different race.

The potential impact of this article on college students in Buffalo is very troubling. Paul's support comes largely from young people. The author of the article is a professor and this type of statement could alienate and offend a significant number of his very own students. Imagine if your professor referred to you as "pathetic" to all of Buffalo.

Many of the article's accusations are false and can be explained by understanding the 10th Amendment and that Paul takes it seriously.

Look at the war on drugs. Yeah, Paul wants to end it, but he wants the states to be able to decide for themselves where certain drugs stand in the legal world. That concept applies to many other circumstances.

Some of the accusations are so ludicrous that they absolutely must be addressed, like the racism thing. Paul has been apologizing for not proofreading those reports for years now. He says that he was not the one who wrote it, but that he is responsible because he allowed it to go out under his name.

Nelson Linder, President of the NAACP in Austin, made his opinion on the issue clear.

"Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul is not a racist," he said, "and is being smeared as one because he is a clear threat to the political establishment."

Those reports were published two decades ago. Have we forgotten the not too distant past, when both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum made blatantly racist statements? Why are their supporters not being targeted for insulting and biased propaganda?

Finally, accusing Paul of being against human rights is absolutely insane. He is outspoken about his support of the Constitution. That includes the Bill of Rights. He actively opposes the Patriot Act and the sanctions we put on other countries that harm civilians more than the government. He was one of only thirteen senators to speak out against the NDAA. He was one of even fewer to speak out against SOPA.

On debates and in interviews, he says time and time again, that he is for liberty. He wants the states to take responsibility and make decisions on issues delegated to them in the 10th Amendment.

That said, a simple Google search provides more than enough information on Paul to help readers come to their own conclusions.

If the author of this article did his homework on Paul, he would know how many of his supporters are part of the demographic he works with everyday. As I said before, how would you feel if your college professor said these things about you in a newspaper?  

I respect the author's right to his own opinion, but negatively stereotyping innocent people in a public way is unfair and unethical.

I am not racist, I am not a druggie and I support Ron Paul.

Mia Summerson can be reached by email at summerson.record@live.com.