http://crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/santorum-i-didnt-say-black-people-i-sa
“I don’t want to make black peoples lives better by giving them other peoples money, I want to give them an opportunity to go out and earn money.”
Rick Santorum is without a doubt the most despicable bigot currently seeking the nomination of the despicable bigot party, but this isn’t a racist statement.
“Rick Santorum is without a doubt the most despicable bigot currently seeking the nomination of the despicable bigot party, but this isn’t a racist statement.”
I know…and I agree with him about getting rid of welfare, but anytime I can help to take a shot at him, I will. Anything to help Ron Paul.
Besides, he sounds really stupid saying, “I said blah people”.
I tried putting up a post that had Santorum saying really horrible stuff about liberty,
https://forum.freecapitalists.org/t/rick-santorum-defines-himself-as-a-facist-literally/21433
but noone responded to that. It wasn’t sensational enough.
How is this a controversy? What’s wrong with saying black rather than African American? The whites aren’t called European American. The US seems to have taken to whole politically correct thing a bit too far.
- How is this a controversy? What’s wrong with saying black rather than African American? The whites aren’t called European American. The US seems to have taken to whole politically correct thing a bit too far.
I don’t think the problem is that he said “black people” instead of “African Americans”, but rather that his statement is pretty broad and sounds like all black people are poor. While poverty is a huge problem for many blacks, it is mildly racist to make such a generalization. Unless he was responding specifically to “what would you do the help the issue of poverty in black communities?” or something along those lines.
"I don’t think the problem is that he said “black people” instead of “African Americans”, but rather that his statement is pretty broad and sounds like all black people are poor. "
Agreed. He made it sound like blacks need welfare.
blah people makes no sense.
‘black people’ is offensive, because it is singling them out. As if we can keep whites on welfare. But blacks: none for you!
Anyway, I think eliminating welfare is getting ahead of yourself. On the one hand, it is not your job as president to decide what the states do with welfare. On the other hand, there are many things to cut besides what is needed by the very poorest in the country. This is the Reagan approach, and the reason there are now whole families of homeless. Even while the government continues to grow at faster and faste rate.
If you start cutting welfare, there will be riots. Like if you cut teachers, they will riot. There is no way out of those things, until something comes along to replace them or somehow people dig themselves out of dependency.
There is really no way that you are going to be able to cut sensitive things. You might be able to cut something like the drug war or military. But that is about zero percent of a chance under santorum. The only thing he or Perry can talk about is what white people think is safe within the conservative paradigm: food stamps, environmental protection, schools, welfare, affirmative action, and so on. Not because of principle. But because radio show hosts tell their listeners that these are tools of your oppression or communism or something else.
… What? The logic just isn’t there..
I don’t think it was even mildly racist. He focused on blacks because he knew black people make up a large portion of welfare recipients. While I wouldn’t have focused on a particular group myself (why not just direct it at “welfare recipients” instead of “blacks”?), I don’t see it as racist to do so.
He’s buying into some stereotype about most black people getting welfare. He didn’t say “black people on welfare” he said “black people”, which implies that “black” implies “on welfare.”
I think you are right. But the way he voices this leaves a nagging suspicion if he isn’t actually thinking something like “I want to stop giving blacks non-black people’s money. I want them to get a job and earn their own.”
What Santorum actually said makes it sound as if all blacks were on welfare, the way he begins his statement “I don’t want to make black peoples lives better…” could be revealing of some harboured ill will and he talks about welfare recipients (disproportionately black) as recipients of others’ people money, but not about for example industrialists and politicians (disproportionately white). I’d say his statement could be said to be at least unwittingly culturally insensitive, which should either be ground for a serious reprimand or of no consequence whatsoever, depending on whether Santorum is one of enforcers of political correctness in overdrive that would be willing to get on someone elses case for a poorly worded phrase or an ill chosen word or if he is not.
I agree with Santorum that I don’t want to make black people better off by giving them other’s money. But the same goes for whites, Indians, Asians, Latinos, etc. This flub is more cosmetic than substantive.