Yesterday on MSNBC's Hardball, Chris Matthews discussed how Republican Presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are resorting to race baiting to secure votes from bigots.
As reported on ABC News, a couple of weeks ago, Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich starked controversy when he said:
“And so I’m prepared if the NAACP invites me, I’ll go to their convention and talk about why the African American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.”
ABC News also reported that Newt Gingrich repeatedly refers to the first African American President as the food stamp president:
"A portion of Gingrich’s usual speech given to crowds includes a line in which Gingrich says more people are on food stamps under President Obama than with any other president. ABC News fact checked Gingrich’s food stamp claims earlier this month, confirming that Americans on food stamps is at a record high, but mostly attributed to a weak economy.
“The fact is if I become your nominee we will make the key test very simple – food stamps versus paychecks. Obama is the best food stamp president in American history. More people are on food stamps today because of Obama’s policies than ever in history,” Gingrich said. “I would like to be the best paycheck president in American history.”
To top it all off, Newt Gingrich basically said that poor children, code for "poor black children", are lazy and shiftless:
On Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Newt Gingrich spent time defending his racist statements during the Republican Presidential Debate in South Carolina. The crowd's reaction was even more sickening than Gingrich's statements.
The crowd applauded when Newt Gingrich justified his bigoted statements. The crowd booed FOX news analyst Juan Williams for having the audacity to question Gingrich about the statements. Unfortunately, the crowd's response is a symptom of a larger problem.
As reported on Politics365, Newt Gingrich is not the only Republican candidate to make racist statements about African Americans:
"A second Republican candidate said: “I don’t want to make Black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money. I want to give them the opportunity to earn the money and provide for themselves and their families…”
A third Republican candidate for president published a newsletter in his 50s claiming that “racial violence will fill our cities” because “mostly black welfare recipients will feel justified in stealing from mostly white ‘haves.’”
A fourth Republican candidate for the presidency signed a pledge claiming that African American children were more likely to grow up in stable families during slavery than in contemporary times.
A fifth Republican candidate said: “many African Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded to not even considering a conservative point of view…” two months ago."
The Republican Party's Southern Strategy to secure the redneck, racist white vote continues today. As long as it benefits them politically, Republican candidates will continue to label African Americans as lazy and welfare dependent. I would not be surprised if the candidates try to out racist each other while campaigning in South Carolina. After all, it is the heart of the Confederacy. In case you forgot, they proudly display the Confederate flag at the state capital to remind you.
Even worst than their racist statements, Republicans will continue to pursue policies that are detrimental to African Americans. The Republican Party's stances on affirmative action, health care reform, welfare, Social Security, Medicare, workers rights, voter identification requirements and other issues adversely and disproportionately impact black people.
As far as the GOP is concerned, black people are invisible, irrelevant and expendable. Republicans clearly don't give a damn about us or our issues. Through their policies and bigoted statements, the Republican Party is essentially saying to the black community, "Who needs niggers!"
