Recently, the press has discovered that the word, "Ni****head" was written on a rock at the front of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry's hunting camp, which has belonged in the Perry family for many years. The article discusses the layout of the farm, reactions from residents of Throckmore County, where the property is located, and Haskell County, where Perry was raised, as well as an interview with Rick Perry himself and a briefing of Perry's childhood.
This region was decidedly segregated for many years and has had many issues with racism; Haskell county officials even admitted that the county only just started recognizing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day two years ago. Calling geographical landmarks variances of the word aforementioned was extremely common and actual legislature had to be passed in order to change the legal names of these places to titles less offensive. Perry describes having very little interaction with anyone of a different ethnic or racial background in his youth and only discovering different cultures after becoming an adult, though is firm that he is accepting of all people, regardless of origin. He also claims that his parents painted over the rock in 1983 or 1984 at his request and that it was turned on its side to obstruct the word, although an anonymous visitor to the claimed claimed that in 1990 or 1991, the word was easily visible and "so blatant." Another unnamed contributer described the paint job as being "sloppy" and not "what it was intended to do." Perry was noticed bringing lawmakers to the farm multiple times, and one neighbor commented that the rock was faced down when such meetings took place.
While the Perrys did take action in disguising the racism apparent in their heritage and Rick Perry appears embarrassed by the rock and steadfastly progressive in his views of racism in this interview, the thoroughness of the family's reactions to changing popular sentiments and the ethical nature of their own choices is somewhat unsettling. If they wanted to completely destroy an evidence of this rock, they could have undoubtedly done so. The family was obviously not impoverished and could have definitely afforded better quality paint if they so desired.
I do not know what this means for Perry's campaign, but the question of this rock's relevance to Perry as a person and as a politician is a valid one to be asked. Does America want a man who was raised in a radically close-minded community to be its president? Has Perry gained enough distance from his hometown's views on diversity to be considered moderate enough for most Americans?
How influential is a community in regards to character of the individual? Racism has been a continuing thread throughout all of America's history, but equality and opportunity are two of the themes that define this nation perhaps more than any others. This land was first founded by refugees, and yet the same people have continued to support persecution of almost the exact same nature. Public disapproval of such views are the only way to combat them effectively. When someone lets words like "n****r" be put on public display, he or she is supporting racism even though that person may have not put them there. Passivity is capitulation. If Perry continues to be the leading Republican candidate, I can only hope that he takes more definite action in situations such as these or he may risk being viewed as small-minded as the people with whom he was raised.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/rick-perry-familys-hunting-camp-still-known-to-many-by-old-racially-charged-name/2011/10/01/gIQAOhY5DL_story.html
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