Report: House Dems trained on how to use race against the GOP

A training presentation to House Democrats this week included tips on how to raise the issue of race in defending government programs.

Training materials obtain by the Washington Examiner criticized "conservative messages [that are] racially 'coded' and had images of people of color that we commonly see used" and proposed tactics for countering Republicans' "racially-coded" rhetoric.

The presentation was prepared by Maya Wiley, director of the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI). According to the group's website, "right-wing rhetoric has dominated debates of racial justice – undermining efforts to create a more equal society, and tearing apart the social safety net in the process" for "more than a quarter century."  The group encourages government officials to focus on "bringing community organizers to the policy table" to "dismantle structural racism."

The CSI was also founded by Wiley, herself a former employee of George Soros' Open Society Institute, and is a social justice project of the Tides Foundation where Wiley sits as chairwoman of the board of directors.

The Examiner reports that the training materials used during the strategic messaging presentation indicate that Democrats plan "to portray apparently neutral free-market rhetoric as being charged with racial bias, conscious or unconscious."

As samples of race-coded rhetoric, Wiley reminded the Democrats of statements by Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Of Gingrich's famous comment about President Obama, her distributed remarks note, "Calling a Black man 'the food stamp president' is not a race-neutral statement, even if Newt Gingrich did not intend racism."

But the threshold for what constitutes racially charged messaging is not always so high. One of Santorum's cited comments was: "Give them more food stamps, give them more Medicaid is the administration's approach, rather than creating jobs." She also cited this comment from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., about raising taxes to fund government programs: "I've never believed that you go raise taxes on those that are paying in, taking from them, so that you just hand out and give them to someone else."

Wiley, who did not respond to the Examiner's inquiries yesterday, offered this warning to Democrats about talking to "someone [who] opposes racial justice" but could support Democratic policies: "Don't make the mistake of telling them they're in the problem. It's emotional connection, not rational connection that we need."

Wiley also included advice for Democrats on how to frame future "race explicit" rhetoric: "Explain how each racial group is affected (recognize the unique pain of each group), but start with people who are White. Then raise racial disparities." By appealing to "white swing voters while building support among voters of color," Wiley encouraged Democrats to focus on "humanizing people of color" to win votes in November.

In this video posted on YouTube, Wiley talks about the importance of involving blacks and other minorities in voter drives and mobilizing blacks -- especially in the south -- through groups like ACORN and the far-left Working Families Party: