It’s not looking good for Rick Perry now. According to The Huffington Post via the Washington Post, Herman Cain has waged war on fellow Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry by alleging that Perry’s family had the word “Niggerhead” painted on a large rock near the entrance of their Texas hunting camp. The Washington Post wrote that Perry and his father began hunting in the camp in the early 1980s, and locals still say the rock is still there at the entrance, with the offensive word still visible behind a coat of white paint.
Cain said Sunday on “Fox News Sunday” that Perry is “insensitive” for how he has handled the rock situation. “There isn’t a more vile, negative word than the ‘n word,’ and for him to leave it there as long as they did is just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country,” Cain said.
There is no record of when the rock first appeared on the grounds, but Perry’s camp are now saying that the story is incorrect.
“A number of claims made in the story are incorrect, inconsistent and anonymous, including the implication that Rick Perry brought groups to the lease when the word on the rock was still visible,” said Perry’s campaign director Ray Sullivan. “The one consistent fact in the story is that the word on a rock was paitned over and obscured many years ago.” Sullivan’s statements don’t address the allegations that the rock’s message is still seen by people who enter the grounds.
Does this hurt Perry’s chances? I hate to say that it probably doesn’t. Sure, black people, especially black Republicans, aren’t taking the news well, but–and this is a fact–the audience at one of the Republican/Tea Party debates basically heckled Ron Paul for saying that a man who is uninsured but needed help should be helped regardless of his not being insured. If some people think a man should die even though he could be helped, then they probably don’t think twice about a word such as the one aforementioned at the entrance of a place where everyone can see it.
What do you think, though? Give your opinions in the comments section below.
