RNC: Nikki Haley talks about racism, but denies racism in the U.S.

    SCREEN CAPTURE / PBS

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley at the Republican National Convention

On one hand, Nikki Haley argues that "America is not a racist country." On the other hand, she talks about the discrimination and hardship that she and her parents faced. 

Haley was one of the keynote speakers on the first night of the Republican National Convention that began Monday (Aug. 24) and will culminate with Donald Trump's acceptance speech on Thursday.

"This is personal for me," Haley says. "I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. They came to America and settled in a small southern town. My father wore a turban."

Next, she delivered perhaps the best line of the night and could be a bumper sticker in 2024. "My mother wore a sari. I was a brown girl in a black and white world."

"America is a story that's a work in progress," she admits. "Now is the time to build on that progress, and make America even freer, fairer, and better for everyone. That's why it's tragic to see so much of the Democratic Party turn a blind eye toward riots and rage."

Haley, often mentioned as a possible POTUS candidate for 2024, is one of more popular members of the Donald Trump administration when she was the US envoy to the United Nations.

As if that wasn't puzzling enough, she also brings up another racist act as an example of America not being racist.

"It wasn't like this in South Carolina five years ago. Our state came face-to-face with evil,: she recalls. "A white supremacist walked into Mother Emanuel Church during Bible Study. Twelve African Americans pulled up a chair and prayed with him for an hour. Then he began to shoot."

But, according to Haley, that deadly carnage was not racist.

Clearly, Haley needs to take an ethnic studies history class to understand that racism was the basis for the rise of white dominance starting from the so-called treaties with Native Americans that were consistently broken, the use of slaves for cheap labor, not to mention the Chinese Exclusion Act and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Despite the blinders towards history, Haley's speech was perhaps the most measured and coherent of the evening. Prior to the convention, Republicans leaders said they wanted to stress what's good about America. Instead, we got the following:

"Trump is the bodyguard of western civilization," said Charlie Kirk, the founder of conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. "Trump was elected to protect our families from the vengeful mob that seeks to destroy our way of life, our neighborhoods, schools, church, and values. President Trump was elected to defend the American way of life."

"Make no mistake: No matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats' America," said Patricia McCloskey. She and her husband brandished guns at demonstrators marching past their home in St. Louis. She claimed that the Democrats want to "abolish the suburbs, altogether."

Tuesday speakers include:

First Lady Melania Trump
The Honorable Mike Pompeo
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds
Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi
Abby Johnson
Jason Joyce
Myron Lizer
Mary Ann Mendoza
Megan Pauley
Cris Peterson
John Peterson
Nicholas Sandmann
Eric Trump
Tiffany Trump