Newsletter controversy
editNewsletters published under Ron Paul's name from 1978 to 1995 containing racist, homophobic, and pro-militia material have been in issue a number of times.
Alluding to a contemporary scientific study finding that "of black men in Washington... about 85 percent are arrested at some point in their lives"[1][2] one issue proposed that "Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in Washington DC are semi-criminal or entirely criminal", and stated that "the criminals who terrorize our cities ... largely are" young black males, who commit crimes "all out of proportion to their numbers".[3][4]
The issue first arose in 1996 when Paul was campaigning for Congress. His opponent criticized the articles, but Paul won.
During his presidential bid in 2008, the issue was raised again in The New Republic, with the addition of previously unseen newsletters. Paul repudiated the sentiments in an official response and claimed not to know who wrote the articles.
The authorship of the material is unclear; most articles were printed without bylines. Paul has maintained that he did not write the offending sections and does not know who did. He has taken "moral responsibility" for allowing the slurs to be published and denounced the writings. A number of commentators have agreed that Paul most likely did not write the articles but criticized him for his handling of the controversy at the same time.
Reason magazine has identified prominent paleolibertarian activist Lew Rockwell as a likely author. Rockwell served as Paul's congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982,[5] as "Paul's chief ghostwriter". The magazine also cites a 1993 tax document showing that Ron Paul & Associates reported an annual income of $940,000 for that year. The document listed four Ron Paul & Associates employees in Texas (Paul's family and Rockwell) and seven more employees around the country.[6] This now-defunct entity, in which Paul owned a minority stake, was during some periods the publisher of the newsletters; at other times, they were published by the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, a nonprofit Paul founded in 1976.[5]
- ^ Deparle, Jason (1992-04-18). "42% of Young Black Males Go Through Capital's Courts". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ Miller, Jerome G. (1992). Hobbling a Generation: African American Males in the District of Columbia's Criminal Justice System. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ "Los Angeles Racial Terrorism". et al., Ron Paul Political Report (now Ron Paul Survival Report). 1992.
Black males age 13 [were] as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult" and could be "unbelievably fleet-footed" in committing crimes; President Bill Clinton was accused of fathering illegitimate children and using cocaine; "complex embezzling" became a "100 percent white and Asian" crime; the Israeli government was labeled a powerful Washington lobby "of the bad sort.
- ^ de Marban, Alex (1996-11-01). "Totally Paul-ly (sidebar)". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
angrywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Who Wrote Ron Paul's Newsletters?. Reason magazine, Julian Sanchez and David Weigel, Jan. 16, 2008