Talk:Tennessee Republican Party

Racist email mention removed
I'm adding an edited version of this section back tomorrow. Diane Black is the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus Chairman. If this was an isolated event, it would be different but systemic racism from within the GOP, particularly the TN GOP is common knowledge at this point. Scribner (talk) 22:30, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

The edit that was removed:

"In May 2009, Sherri Goforth, a legislative aide in Senator Diane Black's office, circulated a racially charged email depicting a collection of portraits of United States Presidents showing current President, Barack Obama as a black frame with only eyeballs visible. The email was denounced as blatant racism. Senator Black's limited response of reprimanding her employee, Goforth, gained national attention and condemnation. This drew heated criticism from local and national blogs, as well as Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Chip Forrester, who called on Black to denounce the email and fire the staffer. To date the aide has received only a written reprimand from Senator Black for the incident. Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey, a Republican, sided with Senator Black claiming that all that was required was a "strong letter of reprimand".

CNN's AMERICAN MORNING covered the email controversy, interviewing an African American sociologist and a political strategist. Michael Eric Dyson is a sociology professor at Georgetown University and Ron Christie, a former V.P. Cheney aide, is a Republican strategist. Both men agreed Sherri Goforth should be terminated.

Ron Christie stated, "I think when you're a member of a congressional staff, your obligation is to represent not only the member of the state senate but the state it represent but the people from that district. And this racist cartoon reflects very poorly on the member of Congress or I should say the state senator and it's despicable. We need to stand out for those people who are involved in public service to a higher calling and a higher standard and say we do not accept any form of racism in public service. This staffer needs to go."

Mr. Dyson, in responding to Robert's question if this was an institutional problem with the Tennessee Republican party, stated, "Well, it would be hard to see it simply as a series of individual events. After all, if it was a statistical aberration, that would be one thing. It seems to look like a trend. But it's deeply rooted in ancient beliefs about black people. To Mr. Christie's credit and to the credit of those who have seen this abhorrent, they have spoken out and said so and refused to accept it. I personally believe that the staffer should be fired as a way to suggest that this is a deeply entrenched but also serious problem that the Republican party takes on to itself. And as a result of that, must speak in very uncertain terms that it doesn't tolerate or accept the kind of bigotry that was reflected in this vicious e-mail."

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 * "Republican Temp Worker Resigns After Sending Inappropriate E-mail" the Speaker of the state senate, a republican, got involved in this particular event. Plus this has made international news.


 * http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6515145.ece
 * http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=10552787
 * http://www.newschannel9.com/news/tennessee-979297-republican-house.html
 * http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/06/16/the-gops-minority-outreach/
 * http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/16/tennessee.email/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular
 * http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/17/gop-state-senate-aide-reprimanded-racist-obama-e-mail/


 * Rewrite coming. Scribner (talk) 08:05, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

--

Rewrite:

Racial and offensive email controversy
In June 2009, two Tennessee Republican staffers were exposed for sending racial and racially insensitive emails while working in State House and Senate offices. In the most recent case, House Speaker Kent Williams asked for and received the resignation of Blake Graves, a member of the College Republicans, who worked for Rep. Karen Camper, in Memphis.

A few weeks earlier, in May 2009, in a similar case that gained international attention, Sherri Goforth, a legislative aide in Senator Diane Black's office, circulated a racially charged email depicting a collection of portraits of United States Presidents showing current President, Barack Obama as a black frame with only eyeballs visible. The email was denounced by both Republicans and Democrats for its blatant racism. Senator Black's limited response of reprimanding her employee, Goforth, gained international attention and condemnation. This drew heated criticism from local and national blogs, as well as Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Chip Forrester, who called on Black to denounce the email and fire the staffer.

Done. Scribner (talk) 20:56, 20 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I'll rework the links later tonight. Scribner (talk) 22:13, 20 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Done. Scribner (talk) 02:09, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Anti-Semites for Obama
Meshmedia, I presume you objected to the anti-Semites for Obama section. The controversy over the ad focused on the use of Obama's middle name, Hussein, and incorrect and stereotypical claims of Obama's "Muslim" garb. The attempted guilt by association tactic wasn't part of the controversy. Scribner (talk) 06:45, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Extreme POV in this article
Nota Bene: Scribner retitled this section. This is not the title I gave the section when I opened it. Altering another editors posts is also a violation of Wikipedia rules. Malke 2010  00:50, 3 February 2010 (UTC)
 * And as such, I have reverted his refactoring. Refactoring of talk page comments to change the meaning is not allowed.—  Dæ  dαlus Contribs 07:15, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

This is a highly POV pushing article in the extreme and I question the necessity of having this article in the first place other than as a vehicle to attack the Republican Party in Tenn. I am adding a POV template to this article. Malke  2010  06:44, 2 February 2010 (UTC) I've tagged this article because it does not meet Wikipedia standards because of WP:SYN and WP:WEASEL. I recommend this article be deleted. The article as it stands now fails in quality of writing and content. There seems no other purpose than to attack the GOP in Tenn. There is no relevant information here that tells anything about the GOP in Tenn. It's centered exclusively on two television ads from the 2008 campaign. There is no extant relevancy here. Malke 2010  07:00, 2 February 2010 (UTC) This section is POV pushing especially with the 'staged patriotic comments.' That is an entirely WP:SYN WP:UNDUE WP:WEASEL for vio of WP:NPOV. I am adding a tag to this section. It doesn't belong at all. Given that the parties on both sides made ads. Ads are meant to point out flaws, failures, controversy, etc. Nothing unusual there, but in this article it seems to be the whole reason for the article to exist. Malke  2010  08:03, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * This is the Tennessee Republican Party article. Your questioning the need for this article is absurd.  The researched materials here exist in several political articles on Wikipedia.  Some of which I wrote; some of which I didn't write.  The materials here have survived several months of scrutiny and do not violate WP:WEASEL, WP:SYN, WP:UNDUE or WP:NPOV.  I have removed the only specific complaint you made, regarding staged comments.  Malke's protest is in retaliation to an edit I made on the Palin article in which he objected here.  Check the times of the complaints.  Removing the tag you placed.  Don't disrupt Wikipedia for your own petty agendas, Malke.   Scribner (talk) 08:29, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Not true. I have this article on my watchlist.  I have appropriately added the tags.  This article does violate WP:NPOV, WP:SYN WP:WEASEL and WP:UNDUE. In addition, rather than discussing changes, you appear to fail to WP:AGF and are engaging in an edit war.  You appear to believe you have ownership of this article.  WP:OWN.  Please do not threaten me with a block as you did here. .  This threat seems evidence that you believe you own this article. And please do not put my name in your edit summaries and the section heading.  What is your motive in doing that?  You have not corrected any of my concerns regarding this article.  You must put the tags back.  The article needs a great deal of work.  The tags are there to alert other editors of what needs to changed in order to direct their attention to it. Malke  2010  17:55, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Other than making wild and unspecific complaints of policy violations, I advise you to list your specific complaints with this article on this talk page so that they may be addressed. And yes, you tagged and attacked this article within one minute of my Palin edit, with which you also disagree.  You been warned about your disruptive editing from two editors in the last 24 hours.  Scribner (talk) 18:44, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * not at all true. And edit warnings?  Also, not true.  And referring to an editors concerns as 'your own petty agendas,' is a violation of WP:AGF.   Malke  2010  19:41, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * In addition, I note you have a history of being blocked for removing tags, and you've also removed tags on this page before.  Malke  2010  20:55, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Malke, your petty retaliation and personal attacks are getting tiresome. I consulted with the administrator who placed that tag and rewrote the section to satisfy his objections.  Those are the first two sections on this page.  Scribner (talk) 21:04, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your comment. I agree, this article does follow a racist trend.  I think it needs to have balance, as well.  It violates WP:NPOV as well as WP:UNDUE.  Thanks for your comments. Malke  2010  23:51, 3 February 2010 (UTC)


 * I have added the tags for neutrality and the criticism sections. Malke 2010  00:03, 4 February 2010 (UTC)


 * The article doesn't follow a racist trend, the actions of the TN GOP follow a racist trend. Your reckless and disruptive edits don't represent anyone's opinion other than your own.  Scribner (talk) 02:52, 4 February 2010 (UTC)


 * SoCal L.A., there are four racial incidents mentioned here. The other two sections are presidential campaign ads.  Scribner (talk) 02:54, 4 February 2010 (UTC)
 * You can't call edits disruptive simply because you disagree with them.—  Dæ dαlus Contribs 06:52, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Serious article problems with WP:NPOV WP:SYN WP:WEASEL
I placed tags at the top of the article and at the controversy section. Scribner has removed them but without addressing any issues of neutrality, synthesis and use of weasel words. The entire controversy section is POV pushing and should be removed. There is not one quote from officials at the Tenn Republican Party offering any kind of explanation, etc.

In addition, the Grinstaff issue, Barack the Magic Negro, and the email controversies, not only do they violate WP:SYN WP:NPOV and, WP:WEASEL, but they are completely irrelevant to this article. The controversies and their section headings themselves are in violation of WP:NPOV. They aren't even from officials at the Tenn Republican Party. They are from staffers, a former chairman, etc. Only the Grinstaff mention appears to be from an official and what does criticism of the media in failing to report a crime by a Kurdish gang have to do with anything? The mainstream media fail to report all sorts of things people believe they should report and people complain about it, etc. These controversies should be removed from this article. The Tenn Republican Party, like all groups, is made up of living people, and as such, it might be that Wikipedia rules on WP:BLP also apply here. Malke 2010  18:47, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Every section listed in the article as "controversial or controversy" directly involves the Tennessee GOP.
 * Four of the six incidents made national news.
 * Five of the six incidents were condemned by national or TN GOP Republicans and Democrats alike.
 * All of the sections survived scrutiny by the ex-TN GOP communications director, Bill Hobbs, (aka Meshmedia), with only two sections receiving minor edits.
 * Again, this protest is in retaliation to an edit I made on Palin's BLP, with which Malke severely protested. Both articles were tagged within a few minutes of the other.  Scribner (talk) 19:06, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * I think then, if you are being intractable on this, a RFC might be in order. Malke 2010  19:10, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Also, you've been systematically removing neutral edits or edits that give balance. Interestingly, you refer to the Hobb's edit, yet you removed it.  .  This clearly calls for intervention. Malke  2010  19:44, 2 February 2010 (UTC)


 * The Hobb's edit you mention was a self-quote that linked to his personal website. His second edit had nothing whatsoever to do with the controversy.  Scribner (talk) 21:07, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

Daedalus969's tags
Daedalus969, use the talk page any time you place a tag. With regard to integrating the criticisms, there's not enough of an article into which to integrate. Scribner (talk) 06:32, 4 February 2010 (UTC)


 * You should use the talk page yourself. The tags are legitimate.  If you persist in removing them, I will go to the noticeboards.  You've got a history edit warring over tags.  If there isn't enough article to integrate all your claims, then you should be working on finding some positive content.  And the sections with email controversy, etc. do not belong at all.  The persons involved were not from the Tenn Republican Party.  They were staffers working for legislators. Malke  2010  06:40, 4 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Um, no. There is no policy or guideline stating that I must use the talk page when placing tags, before or after.  Furthermore, as is quite clearly stated in the tags, controversy sections should not take up 80% of the article.  If you want to have an article just about the controversies, go ahead and attempt to create it, but for here, you must edit it into the article itself.  This article is about the party.  Not everything bad that they have done.—  Dæ  dαlus Contribs 06:50, 4 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Malke, you have a point even though both incidents were sent by Republican staffers from senate and house computers, prompting racial sensitivity training for every staffer in the state. I initially reverted the inclusion for the Senator Black edit, I'm certain you're aware.  This is the edit I consulted with an administrator on and rewrote.   I think you wrong about this but I see your point.  Scribner (talk) 07:00, 4 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I have reverted your refactoring of my post. My comment was addressed to you, not Mal, and therefore, it was indented once after the message you left.  Your message was also addressed to Mal, and not me, therefore, I fixed it appropriately.  If you disagree fine, change it, but don't alter my own post again.—  Dæ  dαlus Contribs 07:05, 4 February 2010 (UTC)


 * He did the same to me. He changed the section heading from what I had to "Malke's Multiple Tag Issues."  BTW, he just got blocked for 24 hours for disruption. Malke  2010  07:10, 4 February 2010 (UTC)
 * And as such, I reverted the change back to what you originally put. Refactoring talk page posts is not allowed.—  Dæ  dαlus Contribs 07:16, 4 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks, Daed. I appreciate that. Malke  2010  07:23, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Edited content for relevancy to article and for vio of WP:NPOV

 * I removed the email controversy section as this has nothing to do with the entity known as the Tennessee Republican Party. While I agree that the behavior of certain of the officials of this party were outrageous vis-a-vis the 2008 election, the material must still be presented according to WP:NPOV.  It cannot have sentences that make judgments, or present the material with a slant toward POV.  We can't use words like 'stereotyping' and 'attack,' etc.


 * The material in the controversy section must either be deleted or it must be placed within the article. As the proportion for this article is out of balance to the controversy section, then more material must be added, and it must be neutral.  A brief, descriptive sentence is likely all that is needed to cover these controversies.  The detail is overwhelming the article.  Sometimes you can say something more powerfully with fewer words.   Malke  2010  07:39, 4 February 2010 (UTC)


 * After a thorough search of sources, etc., it is very clear that the Grunstaff content is inappropriate for this article. This article is about the Tennessee Republican Party.  It is not appropriate to include here, every scandal from every Republican in the state.  The sections on the ads that were run by the Party are relevant, however, and should remain, althought they should be reduced in content because as they appear right now they seem as WP:UNDUE given the overall size of the article. Malke  2010  00:37, 24 February 2010 (UTC)


 * I edited down the controversial ads to more conform with WP:UNDUE and WP:NPOV. The length is now more appropriate considering the length of the entire article. Malke  2010  05:59, 24 February 2010 (UTC)


 * I found out that the so-called "controversial ads" are not ads at all, but rather a press release and a youtube video. I've edited them down to make them less vio of WP:UNDUE and WP:NPOV.  Especially since there's no other content about the subject of the article, it almost appears that the page was created just to provide a platform for these comments and others that clearly had nothing to do with the Tenn Rep Party. Malke  2010  20:55, 24 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I removed the youtube thing because it turns out it wasn't the controversy the edit claimed it to be. I couldn't find anything controversial about it. Malke  2010  17:33, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Writing in the voice of the party
An encyclopedia should not be written as if it is a party website, campaign brochure or policy platform. Wikipedia does not speak for the Tennessee Republican Party, e.g., "We want t oconvince the people who are on the fence, that they are truely republicans because they believe in the core values". We, in Wikipedialand, do not want to convince anybody of anything. We only want to provide verifiable information from a neutral perspective. And we want to use correct spelling an capitalization, but that it another matter. Ground Zero | t 12:40, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

History section copyright violation
I've deleted the history section; it was cited to http://www.city-data.com/states/Tennessee-Political-parties.html but in fact very little of the wording was changed. Please see Talk:Georgia_Republican_Party for an explanation of how to take a source like this and rewrite it so that it doesn't violate copyright. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:56, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment
This article is the subject of an educational assignment at Illinois State University supported by WikiProject Politics and the Wikipedia Ambassador Program&#32;during the 2011 Q3 term. Further details are available on the course page.

The above message was substituted from by PrimeBOT (talk) on 16:15, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

Marriage controversy, including racism and homophobia
I think that the Tennessee Republican Party's positions, especially when they are unanimous in the legislature and Governor's Office, should be included. The entire Tennessee Republican Party in the legislature voted for and the Tennessee Republican Governor signed legislation allowing public officials to refuse to marry interfaith, interracial, and same-sex couples, among others, for any reason of "conscience or other religious beliefs." In 2024, the Tennessee Republican Party's members in the legislature voted along party lines to pass a bill that allows public officials to refuse to marry a couple "for reasons of conscience or other religious beliefs" including interfaith, interracial, and same-sex couples; the state's Republican Governor, Bill Lee, signed the legislation into law. The law does not specify under what circumstances a couple may be refused other than for the public official's individual discretion. The law allows "the possibility for couples to be refused marriage for a whole host of reasons, including their race, religion or national origin." The law has sparked national controversy. SeminarianJohn (talk) 23:32, 27 February 2024 (UTC)