There is a ridiculous Op-Ed from a Jena reporter circling on the right-wing blogs, supposedly “debunking” the Jena 6 controversy. Naturally, it’s filled with incorrect assumptions, misleading statements and downright lies. dnA at Too Sense does a great job tearing the article apart here. It’s quite telling that the only time the right wing pays attention to the travesty in Jena is to “debunk” the egregious racial nature of the controversy.

I’ve often heard conservatives describe themselves as “colorblind, ” but I’ve never bought that description. There is still a lot of racism here in America, and it’s a significant problem that demands our attention. Calling yourself colorblind is a convenient way for you to ignore racial problems in America, to turn your head and pretend that ugly racism doesn’t exist anymore. It’s disturbing, especially from a party that has spent decades engaging in dog whistle politics–sending subtle signals to racist whites in order to pick up their votes.

The Republican Party has a long, shady history of courting racist whites, dating back to Nixon’s southern strategy. The subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) thread of racism is interwoven throughout the fabric of modern conservatism, from incidents like Jena to immigration and even national security.

In the end, their response to Jena isn’t surprising–conservatives clapping their hands over their ears, closing their eyes and assuring themselves that they’re not racist–they’re just “colorblind.”