Paul Ryan's Black Ex-Girlfriend - As reported on Twitter by CNN’s Pete Hamby, Ryan said he has a black sister-in-law, but perhaps even more interesting, his “college sweetheart” was African American.
So here is the million-dollar question: Is the fact that Ryan has dated interracially a noteworthy detail to consider when analyzing his politics and policies?
or years Lou Dobbs was the face of the anti-illegal-immigration crusade. As a result of his seeming obsession with the issue, he became in the eyes of many the face of xenophobia and racism, not to mention public enemy No. 1 of Mexican immigrants. There’s just one hitch to this narrative: Dobbs is married to a Mexican-American woman, meaning that he is the father of Mexican-American children. (His Mexican-born mother-in-law even lives with his family.)
When I discovered this I was surprised, and not for the reasons you may think. While I was somewhat surprised to learn of his wife’s heritage, given his own politics on issues that overwhelmingly affect a community of which she is a member, I was even more surprised that I’d never heard him mention it on his program or prominently in interviews. He certainly didn’t hide it, but my point is, if anyone could have benefited from a “But my best friend — in fact, my wife — is Latina, so I can’t be bigot” defense, it was Dobbs, and yet he chose not to hide behind that.
Certainly, having a relationship with someone of a different race does not automatically make someone more racially sensitive and enlightened.
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