To look at Rand Paul (photo above), you would think he was just another white-collar white guy with a wife and three kids living somewhere in the suburbs. And he is just that – kind of.

The difference is that Rand Paul tries to be honest.

The 47-year-old eye doctor was born in Pennsylvania but his family moved to Texas when he was a child. He was raised and educated in Texas and lives in Kentucky. So he is not only the son of Libertarian Ron Paul but also a son of the South.

So when he says he has misgivings about the 1964 Civil Rights Act, he is speaking from the heart. Ask most sons (and daughters) of the South whether they have misgivings about the law that desegregated lunch counters and rest rooms, and – if they were honest – they would have to say yes.

From what I’ve observed living in Central Florida, they still don’t want black folks using their rest rooms and drinking from their water fountains.

Of course, they won’t say that in so many words. But in the privacy of the voting booth, they make their feelings known.

Why do you think Lyndon Johnson said the Democrats had “lost the South for a generation” when he signed the Civil Rights Act into law?

Of course, Rand Paul wouldn’t see it the way I do. He would never admit having such feelings – not even to himself.  He would sound like a prejudiced redneck and he thinks of himself as an educated guy. So he hides behind his dad’s Libertarian philosophy of a “hands-off” central government. Under that system, the federal government would let the states manage their own affairs, and stay out of citizens’ lives.

Rand Paul tries to justify segregation by saying it’s covered by the Constitutional guarantee of free speech. So, if you’re free to say objectionable things, you should be free to do objectionable things – like banning minorities from your restaurant (and rest rooms).

Yes, I know that’s crazy, but these people don’t think like you and me. They have their own special logic. I guess you could use Rand Paul’s argument to justify all kinds of abhorrent behavior – even physical violence.

You know, of course, that Rand Paul is a Republican candidate – for Kentucky – in the November Senate race, and that he represents the “Tea Party” movement.

So now you know where those “Tea Party” folks are coming from.

Few of them would admit it, but when they say they want their America back, what they’re yearning for is a return to the good old days when blacks and other minorities were supposed to know their place, and white folks were a privileged race.

I’m sure you’ve seen how the Republican Party has shaped its policies recently to accommodate the “Tea Party” movement. So tell me how in the name of all that’s reasonable can a black American vote Republican?