YOUR AD HERE »

Stereotyping from the Left is no less bigoted

Mark Hillman

If a political organization attempting to pass itself off as mainstream conservative mocked inner-city black culture with a parody of “ebonics,” they would be instantly written off as racist and their credibility would be ruined.

On the other hand, the Left can get away with applying its own cultural stereotypes, and the guardians of political correctness don’t bat an eyelash.

A couple weeks back, apparently one of the limousine liberals from the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network (RMPN) stumbled across the existence of the Pueblo Chieftain and was stunned to learn that those of us blessed to live outside the Denver-Boulder commune can actually read and write.



That’s not all. They were insulted to learn that we don’t necessarily agree with their socialist utopian view of Colorado.

In particular, RMPN took umbrage with my factual recount of a left-wing professor’s temper tantrum in a House committee hearing, which revealed to the assembled masses one of the Left’s dirty little secrets: Given unchecked power, liberals won’t hesitate to ridicule, intimidate and silence those with opposing viewpoints.



First Amendment? What First Amendment?

Ironically, RMPN describes itself as “a non-profit (intended to suggest objectivity) formed to provide a ‘fair and balanced’ (oh, how original!) response to the radical right-wing interests that dominate our region’s politics and media.”

If their Web site wasn’t loaded with “analysis” by the featured liberal screamers from the Denver media, you’d think this was an out-of-state outfit that never had set foot in the Mile High City.

Apparently “progressive” politics causes “regressive” memory.

(Incidentally, a few weeks earlier I had the honor and disgrace – you decide which is which – of being the sponsor of bills which RMPN simultaneously labeled “Good Bill of the Day” and “Nasty Bill of the Day.” I wonder whose heartburn was worse, theirs or mine?)

So RMPN’s Web log took this cutesy little shot at Yours Truly’s opinion column in the Chieftain: “Mark Hillman whines about librul (sic) professors, but ‘durn (sic) it, he still stares right” (referring to my rightward glance in the accompanying photo).

Given that the column in question contained nary a spelling or grammatical error and that RMPN didn’t dispute any of the facts, I’m left with no conclusion except that these limousine liberals assume people from the country are too dumb to spell or speak properly, which obviously means we’re too stupid to have relevant opinions.

You can write nasty e-mails calling me an insensitive, mean-spirited, uncompassionate ignoramus. Trust me, I’ve heard plenty worse. But to publicly insinuate that someone’s viewpoint is invalid simply because he’s from the country, “now, them’s fightin’ words!”

Such comments once again reveal that liberals are just as prone to hypocrisy and bigotry as those lesser beings like you and me, whom they revile.

Stereotyping this wheat farmer and other rural Coloradans as quasi-illiterate is no different than demeaning the intelligence of blacks by mocking their speech patterns.

Last fall, when Denver police transcribed interviews with blacks phonetically with terms like “aks,” “baf-room” anda “poh-lice,” the department soon found itself in a heap of horse apples.

“It’s not only insensitive, it’s insulting,” the Rev. Gil Ford of the NAACP told a Denver writer, who summarized Ford’s objection as follows: “It tags blacks as dumb. That dumbness presumes an inability to communicate well. That lack of good communication lets folks blow off your complaints, ‘because you don’t even understand English.'”

What the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network displayed on its Web site was no less bigoted. I don’t know these ‘progressives’ from the backside of a horse, but judging by their disdain of farm folks, I doubt there’s a discernible difference.

State Sen. Mark Hillman (R-Burlington) is the Senate Majority Leader. His e-mail address is mail@markhillm an.com.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.