Wow, this was a quite a segment last night, when the Daily Show covered the scandal over Rick Perry's family hunting camp name, but instead turned it into a discussion on casual racism all over the United States, embedded in our nation's history. Very enlightening.
Wait, how are we just finding out about this now? Rick Perry's been Governor of Texas for 11 years. How come he didn't have to answer questions about this family ranch stone before? That's what... (listens to earpiece) oh, I'm being told he does address it in his autobiography.
Now that you can woop at. This is crazy. I'm not saying Rick Perry was going to win the African-American vote anyway, but Perry'd better have a good explanation for this.
NEWS REPORT (10/2/2011): Perry says his father painted over the sign soon after leasing the property in 1983.
Surely that area must have a painting company solely tasked with correcting these oversights.
Video and transcript below the fold.
Turning now to the Republican Presidential race, Texas Governor Rick Perry entered the contest with a great deal of fanfare, and immediately shot to the top of the field. And then, he began to speak.
RICK PERRY (9/22/2011): Is it the Mitt Romney that was on the side of, against the Second Amendment, before he was for the Second Amendment? Was it, was before, he was before the social programs....
You know, watching Governor Perry do that, you really do picture a sort of squadron of tiny little men inside his head running around frantically, trying to find the right paper, you know? And then one of them knocks over the coffee on the control panel, and the whole thing just goes bzzzzzzzt! You know, and then he's like... (makes robot noises)
But you know, people can recover from a poor debate performance. It's not like those words are written in stone. Which brings us to our next Rick Perry story.
CHRIS WALLACE (10/2/2011): A troubling story on the front page of the Washington Post today about Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, and it indicates that for years, his family had a hunting camp in West Texas. And the name of it, written on a stone, was "N-word head". But obviously it wasn't just "N-head".
What are you looking at me for? I'm not going to say it! You say it!
HERMAN CAIN (10/2/2011): I know that you'll refrain from saying that word, so I'm going to say what the word was on the rock. The name of the place was called "Niggerhead".
(one lone audience member yells "Woooo!!")
Really?? Let the record show, that our audience will fucking cheer anything at times. (wild audience applause)
(Jon facepalms) Uh, I'm just gonna go with that was a "shock" woop.
Thank you, Herman Cain, and boy, if you ever need anybody to say anything offensive in Jewish terms aloud, call me.
Wait, how are we just finding out about this now? Rick Perry's been Governor of Texas for 11 years. How come he didn't have to answer questions about this family ranch stone before? That's what... (listens to earpiece) oh, I'm being told he does address it in his autobiography.
Now that you can woop at. This is crazy. I'm not saying Rick Perry was going to win the African-American vote anyway, but Perry'd better have a good explanation for this.
NEWS REPORT (10/2/2011): Perry says his father painted over the sign soon after leasing the property in 1983.
Surely that area must have a painting company solely tasked with correcting these oversights.
Yes, nice.
JON STEWART: For more on this story, we're joined by Wyatt Cenac, coming to us live from Texas. I know you grew up in Texas, it's gotta be hurtful and hurt your heart to be reminded of the casual racial insensitivity that has long marred that state.
WYATT CENAC: Actually, Jon, I'm not in Texas. I'm in your state. I'm standing in front of Nigger Lake, New York.
(stunned audience response)
WYATT CENAC: Wooo!
(wild audience applause)
JON STEWART: So that was you!
WYATT CENAC: A little Ric Flair!
JON STEWART: I know! Wyatt, that... you're kidding, right? Because that's obviously New York. No. We have that?
WYATT CENAC: No, it's real. It's up here in Hamilton County. The state even listed it on its website until recently, and you can see why. It's a beautiful lake... unless you're a nigger.
JON STEWART: Wow. Wyatt, that... uh... I guess it takes a while for name changes to go through.
WYATT CENAC: How long do you need?? You could call it anything! Catshit Lake, Fart Swallow Lake, Trouble with Tribbles Lake, or how about just That Fucking Lake Over There?
JON STEWART: Yeah, all right. That's....
WYATT CENAC: The point is, everybody's rushing to condemn Texas. And sure, there's a lot of racist shit that goes on in Texas. But guess what? There's:
Niggerhead Rapids, Idaho,
Niggerhead Point, Florida,
Niggerhead Pond, Vermont,
Niggerhead Creek, North Carolina, good fishin',
Niggerhead Mining District, Washington.
Did you know there are over 100 places that have been called Niggerhead in this country? There was even a Niggerhead Point in New York. It's over in Wayne County, on Lake Ontario, but out of respect, they changed it to Negrohead Point.
JON STEWART: Wow, that's....
WYATT CENAC: Yeah, then they realized that still wasn't very respectable, so now they just call it Graves Point.
JON STEWART: Graves? Why? Who does that refer to?
WYATT CENAC: I don't know, probably some nigga named Graves.
JON STEWART: Uh, well Wyatt, I don't know what to say. I mean, what does this say about America?
WYATT CENAC: IT SAYS THERE AREN'T ENOUGH BLACK PEOPLE MAKING MAPS!!!
(wild audience applause)
JON STEWART: I guess that's true. Perhaps we can encourage an aggressive program of enticing black cartographers.
WYATT CENAC: You know what? It's not just about insulting black people. That Rand McNally guy was kind of a racist. Otherwise why on earth would there be places like Chink's Peak, Dago Peak, Squaw Tit Mountain, Jap Road, Spook Woods, and Mexican Gulch?
JON STEWART: Well, this is embarrassing for America.
WYATT CENAC: Actually, Jon, I disagree. While America may have a legacy of intolerance, it's also shown it has the capacity to learn from its mistakes, and transform those ugly feelings into expressions of our highest ideals.
JON STEWART: Wow. That was beautiful, Wyatt. I guess it's so easy to get caught up in the shameful parts, and overlook the beauty of the country. I've really....
WYATT CENAC: Yeah, it reminds me of that song "America, the Beautiful"... (music starts playing)
JON STEWART: What?
WYATT CENAC: But the lost verses.
JON STEWART: Lost verses?
WYATT CENAC: Sure, sing along.
Oh, beautiful for rivers wide
And strong like Darkey Creek,
For Half-Breed Hill and Dago's Nose
The snow upon Chink's Peak!
America, America, God shed his grace on thee,
And keep the blacks across the tracks
From sea to shining sea!
JON STEWART: Wyatt Cenac, everybody! We'll be right back!
Jon also covered the drone attack that killed Anwar Al-Awlaki.
Then Jason Jones
looked at how Mexicans are actually leaving the U.S. because of both the bad economy and racist anti-immigration laws in several states.
Meanwhile, Stephen also
looked at Perry's trouble with the camp.
He then turned to the
Supreme Court and talked with
Jeffrey Toobin about how the Court could rule on Obama's health care law.
