By now, we're all familiar with Cain's contention that the reason a majority of Black voters support the Democratic party is because we've been brainwashed. If you're unfamiliar with that statement, you can read more about it here and his selective memory of the GOP's history with Blacks here. So given Cain's staunch defense of the GOP and denigration of the Democrats regarding each party's modern relationship with Black voters, imagine my surprise that he was the first to call out Rick Perry on this:
Herman Cain Attacks Rick Perry Over His N-Word-Named Family Hunting Parcel
The details over the great orange squiggle.
I understand that some people grow up so immersed in and surrounded by racism that they really don't know it. But even the most insulated of these has to know that naming a family plot of land "Niggerhead", is offensive. Or perhaps I'm just that naive to think that someone couldn't see that. Could be.
From WaPo today:
At Rick Perry’s Texas hunting spot, camp’s old racially charged name lingered
Ranchers who once grazed cattle on the 1,070-acre parcel on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River called it by that name well before Perry and his father, Ray, began hunting there in the early 1980s. There is no definitive account of when the rock first appeared on the property. In an earlier time, the name on the rock was often given to mountains and creeks and rock outcroppings across the country. Over the years, civil rights groups and government agencies have had some success changing those and other racially offensive names that dotted the nation’s maps.
How quaint. Perhaps they did lynchings there too, complete with picnic lunches. I digress.
But the name of this particular parcel did not change for years after it became associated with Rick Perry, first as a private citizen, then as a state official and finally as Texas governor. Some locals still call it that. As recently as this summer, the slablike rock — lying flat, the name still faintly visible beneath a coat of white paint — remained by the gated entrance to the camp.
Houston, we have a problem. Bad enough that in the eighties when the Perry family first became associated with this property, this wasn't the first thing they did away with. After all it was the 1980's not the 1880's and really, should someone have to be told this is inappropriate and offensive? Apparently.
Perry contends that the rock was painted over when he called his dad's attention to it. My first question was why not paint it over with something that left absolutely no trace of the name or have the rock removed?
Enter Cain who has said:
“There are some words that do not, basically, inspire the same kind of negativity as that word…the name of the place was called ‘Niggerhead.’ That is very insensitive,” Cain said. “Since Gov. Perry has been going there for years to hunt, I think it shows a lack of sensitivity for a long time of not taking that word off of that rock and renaming the place.”
and I give him some credit for acknowledging that this is a problem. Insensitivity? Goes beyond that for me. Insensitivity makes it sound like ordering dessert when dining with a friend on a diet. To me this is emblematic of the way conservatives deal with ( or don't) discussions about race. They don't understand or appreciate the initial offensiveness of the act; "we cleaned it up, shouldn't you people be happy?"
The Perry campaign is of course pushing back hard, "the family took immediate action" etc. etc. Again I can't help but wonder, why would you buy the property in the first place if it actually bothered you?