Originally posted by ThePublicEnemyNo1
reply to post by NewlyAwakened
Incredibly insane! If anyone is a racist, Newt Gingrich certainly is. How quickly we forget! Well, I didn't forget, remember these remarks made by Newt:
Gingrich: Poor blacks fail to acquire wealth partly because of their "habits." A June 16, 1995, Washington Post article reported that Gingrich, in a discussion with black journalists, stated that the failure of poor black people to acquire wealth was in part due to their "habits." From the Post article:
He acknowledged that it was more "difficult to acquire wealth as a black in America," but added that more than skin color is at play. "The truth is that preachers and lawyers have been more dominant in the black culture in the last 40 years than have business people," said Gingrich. "The habits of the church and the habits of the lawsuit have been more powerful than the habits of acquisition and the habits of job creation."
[...]
Asked what he would tell a black child who grew up with the notion of the United States as a colorblind nation, Gingrich said he'd respond: "We're not colorblind. I'd say it's a lie to walk into a school in America and say, 'This is a colorblind society.' And we shouldn't lie to children."
Pressed on what he would tell children who wondered what their opportunities were, Gingrich said his answer would be: "If you're black you have to work harder, and if you're black and poor you have to work twice as hard."
Gingrich, who has been intimately involved in District affairs, also was asked to respond to the suspicions of some residents that Republican interest in the city is part of a "conspiracy to boot out the black-run government" and "roust out" poor blacks.
"I understand the fear," he said. "What I want to do is transform Anacostia so the people currently living there are able to participate in the transformation so that five or 10 years from now they have new habits. Let me be very clear about this: I'm prepared to say to the poor, 'You have to learn new habits. The habits of being poor don't work. So yes, you've got to change.' "
Newt Gingrich's History of Bigoted Remarks
ETA:
I have hated this SOB every since the 1990'sedit on 12/20/11 by ThePublicEnemyNo1 because: (no reason given)
Hmmm odd. I am not a fan of ol Newt, not even remotely close, but I didnt find anything in your quoted text to be a sign of racism. I found it to be pretty straight forward and honest. If you are black, you do have to work a bit harder. You have to over come the preconceived ideas that others have about you as an individual based solely on your race. The same applies for one who is poor. I am sure it must be even a bit harder if you are poor and black.
That is the funny thing about racism. An observation made about by a white person about another person of color (regardless of the color) it is automatically considered racism. Just look at how many people on these very boards have complained about the policies of this President. They showed example after example and laid out their entire case in support of the thoughts running through their mind, only to have all the information and examples cast aside and ignored and have their ideas blamed on racism.
