Rick’s Racist Rock

I carry no water for Texas Governor Rick Perry. I doubt that he is the right man for the Republican nomination and I doubt that he will get the nomination. It still has to be said that the Washington Post hit piece on Perry was a sloppy and scurrilous piece of yellow journalism.

Here is the nugget of truth in the story.

In the early years of his political career, Rick Perry began hosting fellow lawmakers, friends and supporters at his family's secluded West Texas hunting camp, a place known by the name painted in block letters across a large, flat rock standing upright at its gated entrance.

"Niggerhead," it read.

Okay. Apparently the camp was called "Niggerhead" locally, and there was a rock with that word painted on it. Perry's father leased the property in the 1980's and Perry used the camp frequently. He says that his father painted over the word just after he leased the property.

The Post article produces a lot of testimony, almost all of it anonymous, to the effect that the name lingered on the rock long after that. There are is a series of photos to accompany the article, but no picture of the rock. All of them are of Rick Perry doing Rick Perry things. The article tells us a lot about the climate and landscape of this bit of Texas, and a little about the history of race relations there. It tells us nothing at all that is useful in judging Rick Perry.

I gather that the offensive piece of geology has been removed to God knows where. The Post offers us no pictures of it, but does mention a picture that the Post does not provide. Here are the final words of the story, with my sarcastic commentary.

The rock remained by the gate, the name brushed with a thin coat of white paint. The paint was slightly faded, according to the person who saw it recently.

Who was this "person"? When was "recently"?

"That's something that sticks in my memory," this person said. "It was kind of a sloppy job. It wasn't doing what it was intended to do."

Your memory from when, precisely? What was it "intended" to do?

As recently as this summer, the rock was still there, according to photographs viewed by The Washington Post.

How, exactly, were the photos dated? Why can't we see them?

In the photos, it was to the left of the gate. It was laid down flat. The exposed face was brushed clean of dirt. White paint, dried drippings visible, covered a word across the surface. An N and two G's were faintly visible.

I gather that we are to infer from this that the rock was only painted over very recently. We have a "person" who seems to find fault with the paint job, but the photo the Post claims to have seen is somehow not available.

This is journalistic malpractice. There's no story here, only innuendo. The only hard evidence the Post produces confirms the Perry's story that the rock was painted over. We can't know from what they tell us when the photo was taken or when the offensive word was painted over or whether the word was painted over more than once.

If this is the best bit of dirty laundry that the Post can come with on Perry, they had better hope he doesn't improve in the next debates. The editors deserve to be spanked and set to bed without their supper.

Comments

[Erin]

Criticism of journalism should be left to those willing to read an entire article and consider its stated purpose. This story was intended to and did give a history and context for the rock. It was not devised as a "smear" of Rick Perry.

It did identify one person interviewed, a game warden who guided hunting parties, but explained why others were not identified:

"This story is based on interviews with more than two dozen people, including residents, hunters, ranchers, government officials and others who live in Haskell County, where Perry’s boyhood home of Paint Creek is found; in neighboring Throckmorton County, where the hunting camp is located; and elsewhere in Texas. Ray Perry did not respond to numerous attempts to reach him for comment. The campaign declined a request to make him available."

"Most of those interviewed requested anonymity because they fear being ostracized or other repercussions in their small community. Some are supporters of Perry, whose parents still live in Paint Creek. Others, both Democrats and Republicans, are not. Several spoke matter-of-factly about the hunting camp and its name and wondered why it held any outside interest."

The story reported in detail what the reporter was able to find.

[Anne]

Here is a different account of the story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/04/rick-perry-campground-n-word_n_993499.html

[KB]

Erin: you won't buy this story for a minute if it came at the expense of someone you support. There are lots of excuses for using anonymous witnesses. They are still anonymous witnesses and such testimony is worth very little unless it is confirmed by something more substantial. The Post doesn't have the rock. It claims to have a photo of the rock, but it doesn't offer to us or explain why it cannot do so. There is precious little substance to the story to begin with and it ends with a flourish of innuendo.

This is obviously a hit piece. It is stupid to deny that. It is also a very incompetent one.

[KB]

Thanks, Ann. I note that neither the Huffington Post nor the NYT article it links to add any information. So far, the rock is a no show.

[Bill Fleming]

Is your point that there was no such rock Ken? That it's all a fabrication? My thought is, the story is more about how Perry handles it than whether or not there was a birth certific.... uh, I mean rock.

[duggersd]

And your point, Bill? Perry's father had a rock with an offensive name on it of a place that had a name attached to it by the locals. He had it painted over and turned over. No fanfare, no nothing, just did it, according to the story. Handled, right? And it sounds like Rick Perry had nothing to do with it. And then there is the story of the birth certificate. This could have been taken care of in the first week of the President's administration. Instead he let it go on and on and on. Yes, the handling of the two situations are very contrasting. But as I understand it, it was handled by Rick Perry's father.

[Donald Pay]

There are much more critical indicators of Republican racism than Perry's rock. Still, it is really interesting to see the racist dynamic this has set off in the Republican Party. The racist leader of the Republican Party (Mas'sa Rush) whipped Cain hard for getting so uppity that he stated the obvious. Cain shuffled back to the plantation right quick. "Sorry, Mas'sa Rush. I'll stick to 999."

[Ken Blanchard]

Bill: my point is that the WaPo story is a piece of yellow journalism. What they want to argue is that the Perry's were insensitive in ignoring the racist rock and that Rick Perry lied about how soon they dealt with the matter. This may well be true, but the Post has no facts to establish either claim. All they have is innuendo. I am pretty sure the rock actually did exist. As for the WaPo photo of the rock, I will believe in that when they post the damn thing.

Donald: your belly is so full of bile it is a wonder you can reach the keyboard. You say there are indicators of Republican racism but you mention none. For you, disagreeing with a Black candidate is tantamount to racism. The fact that Cain is now in second place in the Republican field, in some polls in first, is invisible to you. Invincible ignorance.

[Bill Fleming]

KW. Oh.

[Donald Pay]

Touched a nerve, didn't I K? What was Nixon's "southern strategy about?" What do you think voter suppression and disguised poll taxes are meant to do? Racism is a proud tradition of the Republican Party since they encouraged southern white racists to join them.

[duggersd]

Well, Bill, if you want to be technical about it, I would suggest the Democrat party has a much longer history of racism. Democrats resisted the Civil Rights Act and it was Republicans who got it over the hump. Most of the racists after the Civil War were in the Democrat party. And when it comes to the KKK, who which party did they connect with? Hint, check out the late Robert Byrd. Even today, the Democrat party is doing its best to keep minorities down. Look at all of the programs put forth by the Democrat party since the 1960's. The programs purportedly put in place to help minorities out of poverty seem to be right where they were when they started. Could this be because the Democrat party is more interested in votes than improving the lot of minorities?

[George Mason]

Donald there is no one more racist than an American liberal. They believe that no black person is capable of success without government programs, and if a black person becomes successful on their own initiative they are not really black. Liberals simple minded charges of racism without substantiation demonstrate how vacuous they and their accusations are. This article in regards to Perry is a prime example. It goes along with the inability of liberals to respond to the Tea Party movements freedom agenda with anything more than charges of racism (which they also cannot substantiate).

[Donald Pay]

George, what you describe is the Republican philosophy. Liberals simply believe minorities need to be protected from racists and their attempts to exclude all people from the American Dream. We cleansed our Party of the virulent racists, or they changed. The Republicans welcomed them into their Party, and they now serve as a good chunk of the Republican base.

[Jimi]

Donald,

"Racism is a proud tradition of the Republican Party since they encouraged southern white racists to join them."

The south was almost completely Democrat for most of our history. The KKK had strong ties within the Democrat Party. Robert Byrd, an admitted KKK member was a severely protected memeber given high power leadership positions within the Democratics Party.

If your goign to spew it.....back it up!

[George Mason]

Donald; You do a fine job of regurgitating the same old insipid liberal cliches we have heard for decades. They have no basis in fact or practice. You want racism watch the reaction to any black person who expresses conservative ideas or endorses a Republican candidate. The most extreme example of racism this year was when some of Obamas SEIU pals beat up a black man in St. louis for the crime of attending a Tea Party rally. Woe be to any black man who strays off the liberal plantation. If you actually believe any of this garbage you write here you are dishonest, ignorant and/or stupid. I vote for all three.

[Bill Fleming]

Hey guys, if KB says he doesn't even think there was such a rock, I'm sure not going to argue the rest.

That would be pointless.

Suffice to say that such rock names are ubiquitous throughout the South.

Just google it.

There are similar place names on fairly recent maps of the Black Hills as well.

Like I said, it's more about the way it gets handled than anything else.

Rush Limbaugh didn't handle it well. KB's position is a little specious in my opinion.

But if he wants to play the ostrich game, I could let it slide except perhaps to ask why he even brought it up.

Seems like he's not really doing a very good job of ignoring the issue, is he?

[Ken Blanchard]

Bill: you seem to have lost the ability to read. I acknowledged that the rock exists. I continue to point out what would be glaringly obvious to you if the tables were turned: there is no story here. There is no reason to think that Perry ever had anything to do with that rock. This is a pathetic attempt to paint Perry as insensitive in lieu of any other evidence.

Donald: I offer evidence against your vile accusation from current events. You respond with a slogan repeated over and over by Democrats for more than forty years. That is what prejudice looks like. You cling to your cherished opinions about Republican racism and when challenged search about for some evidence.

You write "[racists] now serve as a good chunk of the Republican base." That's a lie.

[Donald Pay]

From the mouth of the head of the Republican Party:

http://newsone.com/nation/casey-gane-mccalla/top-10-racist-limbaugh-quotes/

While Democrats denounce their racist past, Republicans celebrate and excuse their racist present and attack those who point out the racism of their leaders and the race baiting of their policies and campaigns. Rush is celebrated for his racism in Republican circles. Nothing points out your party's racism more than this.

[Bill Fleming]

Yes, KB, you argued FOR the rock before you argued AGAINST it. ;^)

[duggersd]

Donald, conservatives are interested in equal opportunity for ALL people. The Democrat party is interested in equal outcomes for ALL people. It is the Democrat party that tells different minorities they cannot achieve success without them. I cannot think of anything more condescending and insulting to a whole race of people. That is the group you support. You racist, you.

[Donald Pay]

Duggersd,

Keep mouthing the platitude of the racists. Equal opportunity? Ha! And how do you do that? What has your party done recently to assure equal opportunity?

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