Courtesy of the AP:
Conservatives are demanding that a Smithsonian Institution art and history museum remove its bust of the founder of Planned Parenthood in their latest offensive against the organization.
But the National Portrait Gallery says it won't remove its bust of Margaret Sanger, an early leader of the birth control movement. It has been displayed since 2010.
Sanger, who died in 1966, also supported eugenics, a now-condemned effort to discourage reproduction by criminals and others with undesirable traits. Brent Bozell, chairman of the conservative group ForAmerica, and a group of black pastors say Sanger favored using eugenics to limit the population of blacks, a claim that some Republican lawmakers have echoed but for which the evidence is contested.
"It's one and the same," Bozell said Wednesday of Sanger's support for eugenics and her role in starting two organizations that eventually became Planned Parenthood. He said Sanger wanted to "sterilize out of existence the poor, the blacks."
The conservative push to remove Sanger's bust comes after anti-abortion activists have released eight videos showing secretly recorded conversations in which Planned Parenthood officials discuss how the organization sometimes provides fetal tissue to medical researchers. The videos have prompted investigations by several congressional committees and efforts by Republicans in Congress and several states to block government payments to the group.
The move against Sanger's bust has the support of presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who are circulating a letter to other lawmakers. A draft of that letter calls the bust's display by the museum "an affront both to basic human decency and the very meaning of justice."
Of course this has absolutely NOTHING to do with Sanger's perceived racism and everything to do with attacking Planned Parenthood.
You can bet that if conservatives gave a shit about racism then Donald Trump would not be leading in the polls right now.
And if they want to start removing the busts of people who supported racism in this country, perhaps they ought to start with this one:
After all Thomas Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves and even fathered children by at least one of the women he owned.
Perhaps we should recognize that NONE of our heroes are perfect, however in many cases their contributions to this country far outweigh the perceived negatives in their character.
Conservatives attempt to have bust of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger removed from the Smithsonian.
5:43 AM
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