by Yvette Carnell
Last week, Newt Gingrich intimated that he would happily accept an invitation to the NAACP since it would provide him an opportunity
to tell the black community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps. This week, Gingrich is still defending those rancid comments.
At a town hall in Manchester New Hampshire, Gingrich was taken to task by Yvan Lamothe, a black man and small business owner, who challenged Gingrich on his comment. Lamothe said that he’s never been on food stamps and was offended by Gingrich’s insinuation that all black people are either on or have been on welfare. Following is the transcript of the exchange:
LAMOTHE: My question to you is, do think blacks represent an American problem. And if you don’t think that, when you start using blacks in general as a stepping stone or a punching bag–
GINGRICH: I didn’t say that. I just want to say that frankly this makes me very irritated. The Democratic National Committee took totally out of context half of the sentence, OK? I mean clearly somebody who’s served with Colin Powell, who has served with Condoleezza Rice, I have a fairly good sense of the fact that African Americans have many contributions to America.
If Gingrich has a good sense that black people are actually contributors, as opposed to takers, then it makes no sense that he would paint all black folks with one broad brush, unless of course, he’s race baiting to gain some momentum for his floundering campaign, in which case, that makes it all the worse.
Truth be told, there has always been a core constituency of right wingers, or should I say dead-enders, who view black people as an American problem. And that’s the choir to which Gingrich was singing with his ‘food stamp’ comment. He should be ashamed, but given his past, we all know that shame is not an emotion with which Gingrich is familiar.
Yvette Carnell is a former Capitol Hill and campaign staffer turned writer. She is currently an editor and contributor for Yourblackworld.
