Topic: Rick Perry & the "Niggerhead" stone

[IronDioPriest]

You've got to be frikking kidding me. This isn't his property. He didn't put the rock there. There is no justification for using this to attack Perry. But they will.

"Niggerhead". Get used to it. It's the new Macaca.

At Rick Perry’s Texas hunting spot, camp’s old racially charged name lingered

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 (that appears to be a boldfaced lie), a place known by the name painted in block letters across a large, flat rock standing upright at its gated entrance.

“Niggerhead,” it read.

Ranchers who once grazed cattle on the 1,070-acre parcel on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River called it by that name well before Perry and his father, Ray, began hunting there in the early 1980s. There is no definitive account of when the rock first appeared on the property. (Oh, maybe PERRY put it there, huh?) In an earlier time, the name on the rock was often given to mountains and creeks and rock outcroppings across the country. Over the years, civil rights groups and government agencies have had some success changing those and other racially offensive names that dotted the nation’s maps.

But the name of this particular parcel did not change for years after it became associated with Rick Perry, first as a private citizen, then as a state official and finally as Texas governor. Some locals still call it that. (Citation, please) As recently as this summer, the slablike rock — lying flat, the name still faintly visible beneath a coat of white paint — remained by the gated entrance to the camp...

The rest of this shameful smear at the link...

[IronDioPriest]

And of course, Perry is now in the position of defending against a false charge of racism...

Rick Perry disputes Washington Post story on slur

..."Governor Perry and his family never owned, controlled or managed the property referenced in the Washington Post story. The 42,000-acre ranch is owned by the Hendricks Home for Children, a West Texas charity.

"Perry’s father painted over offensive language on a rock soon after leasing the 1,000-acre parcel in the early 1980s. When Governor Perry was party to the hunting lease from 1997 to 2007, the property was described as northern pasture. He has not been to the property since 2006.

“In 1991 the Texas Legislature passed a bill to rename old, offensive place names."

[IronDioPriest]

And the fact that Herman Cain seemingly buys into this race-baiting and appears willing to use it to his advantage by playing the race card disqualifies him in my mind. He needs to retract this idiotic piling on now. Now Herman.

I will not support or vote for a politician willing to cynically use race against his opponents. Screw that.

Cain: Name of Perry's Hunting Camp 'Insulting' to Blacks

...There "isn't a more vile, negative word than the N-word, and for him to leave it there as long as he did, until before, I hear, they finally painted over it, is just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country," said Cain..."

[charlesoakwood]

There are too many people who remember the common occurrence of this naming from the time of the Brits using the term for a mooring iron to a lake not 100 miles from home. This is another attempt to rewrite history with a smear.
Citizens of America are tired of PC tyranny.

Note: the word Nigger has been altered by system software, none of the following had the spelling altered.  Also some of the capitalization such as the word Nigger is used as a proper noun has also been altered by system software.

A small sampling:

University of Arizona
THE FLORA OF ARIZONA
...
The kind commonly called the nigger head is round, of the size of a cabbage, and covered with large, crooked, catlike thorns.


Niggerhead Mountain in Los Angeles County
Interactive Map of Niggerhead Mountain
Feature Name         County   Type           Latitude                  Longitude          Alt   USGSMap
Niggerhead Mountain   L A    summit      34.1097222222        -118.808888889         Point Dume
   



Quintessential Negro

Once I was working on a news story about the Department of Justice's recent efforts to investigate unsolved deaths from the Civil Rights era. I'd obtained documents that suggested there were unsolved, racially motivated killings in three North Carolina towns: New Bern, Shelby and Gaston. I needed to match those towns with their respective counties in order to contact the local branches of the NAACP, which organize at the county level. Of course, I grabbed the Gazetteer. While thumbing through the book's 'N' section, I discovered some of the state's old geographic treasures.

There's Nigger Bay, which lies between Swan Island and Currituck Banks in northeast Currituck County. Nigger Head, a mountain on the Clay-Macon County line, climbs to 4,900 ft. Niggerhead Creek rises in east Union County and flows into northwest Richardson Creek. Nigger Mountain, also known by its proper name, Mount Jefferson, is in Ashe County. Niggerskull Creek rises in central Jackson County and flows southwest into Tuckasegee River.

And there is Nigger Skull Mountain (not to be confused with Niggerskull Mountiain) in west Haywood County on the head of East Fork. Niggerskull Mountain (for Nigger Skull Mountain, see above) is in central Jackson County between Niggerskull Creek and Gladie Creek. Nigger Spring, in south Haywood County, feeds into the Little East Fork Pigeon River.

I turned to the 'W' section of the book, looking for a little justice. I found Whitehead Creek, White Hill, White Lake, White Marsh, White Pond, White Rock, Whites Creek, Whites Crossroads, Whites Island, Whites Store, Whites Swamp, Whites Township and, of course, Whiteville. No White Trash, though. And I couldn't find any mountains or lakes named after cracker-ass-crackers or honkeys.

I picked up the phone and called my local county branch of the NAACP. "Hey man, this is Quint...yeah, me again! You aren't gonna believe this one..."
...


WISCONSIN BOTANICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
Specimen Detail Page
...
Pop. Area:           
State:     Wisconsin    County:     Burnett    Country:     USA
Site No.:     
Collection Event:     
Place:     Near Nigger Head Lake. [Rice Lake]
...
Annotator:    Jones, Almut G.
Date:    1977

The following are of a more historical reference:

202 VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.

There are only two ponds which lie wholly in this town—Nigger Head, of cir­cular form, and about half a mile in width, and Nob Hill ponds. Long pond lies partly in Marshfield and partly in Groton.
...
NIGGER HEAD  mountain, in the north-easterly part of the town, is a steep precipice, 500 feet high, in one place 300 feet perpendicular. It is an imposing sight, so bold, precipitous and grand—nature enthroned in one of her wildest phases. On its dizzy heights we have a remarkably fine view of the sur­rounding regions, and of the bright waters of the beautiful pond below, and nowhere can one get a better view of the fearful precipice, than in a little boat on the waters at its base.
...
WATER PRIVILEGES...
... and in addition to all these, Nigger Head brook, from where it leaves Nigger Head pond to its entrance into the Winooski, has a succession of falls, making good locations for mills; all the better, as the stream is never materially affected by drought.

For Sale

...
The scenes are as follows: Bird's Eye of Dock, Beauty Bay, Sherman St., double views Opera House and Electric Station on same page. Nigger Head Lake & High School on one page. Bank & Trust and Hotel Idaho on one page. Catholic Academy, 2
...

[IronDioPriest]

Good collection Charles. History doesn't matter to the WaPo though. They're only concerned about the term's usefulness in their smear campaign.

And alas, barring some kind of retraction or clarification from Cain (which seems necessary a little too often BTW), it appears that a smear campaign is Cain's concern as well.

[rickl]

The kind commonly called the n*gger head is round, of the size of a cabbage, and covered with large, crooked, catlike thorns.

The thorns resemble cats?  That would be something to see.  But cats are mostly soft and fluffy.  Mostly.  Maybe they meant "cat-claw-like thorns".

[charlesoakwood]

This election season is truly amazing, shooting stars Sarah and Michele burned out in loud and quiet ways never considered. gNewt's team leaving in exodus.  Perry unable to elborate the good parts and then offending his base now Cain, one time too many and from the top of the hill, shoots from the lip when a quiet 3 count would have served him well.  What's next, Christie?
                                         

 

[rickl]

Back to the topic, I've been thinking that Cain would probably be my favorite candidate if Palin doesn't run.  But throwing the race card is very close to a disqualifier.  I thought he was better than that.

Please, Sarah.  Your country needs you.  

But as I've said since September 2008, I won't hold it against her if she doesn't want to be involved with politics any more.  It's our loss, but it's her life.

[rickl]

The thing that is really maddening about this interminable primary campaign is the way the Republican candidates keep attacking each other, instead of focusing on Obama and his destructive socialist policies.

[charlesoakwood]

The kind commonly called the n*gger head is round, of the size of a cabbage, and covered with large, crooked, catlike thorns.

The thorns resemble cats?  That would be something to see.  But cats are mostly soft and fluffy.  Mostly.  Maybe they meant "cat-claw-like thorns".

Whiskers?  Nope, more like fluffy.

[charlesoakwood]

The thing that is really maddening about this interminable primary campaign is the way the Republican candidates keep attacking each other, instead of focusing on Obama and his destructive socialist policies.

Their handlers should quit reading the NYT.

[Janny]

And the fact that Herman Cain seemingly buys into this race-baiting and appears willing to use it to his advantage by playing the race card disqualifies him in my mind. He needs to retract this idiotic piling on now. Now Herman.

I will not support or vote for a politician willing to cynically use race against his opponents. Screw that.

Cain: Name of Perry's Hunting Camp 'Insulting' to Blacks

...There "isn't a more vile, negative word than the N-word, and for him to leave it there as long as he did, until before, I hear, they finally painted over it, is just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country," said Cain..."

If Cain does not clarify this, and walk this back, he is DEAD TO ME...as a candidate. He needs to get the facts before he goes off, half-cocked. I do not want a President who sets this precedent.

[Janny]

Please, Sarah.  Your country needs you.  

But as I've said since September 2008, I won't hold it against her if she doesn't want to be involved with politics any more.  It's our loss, but it's her life.

I am right there with you, on this.

[rickl]

Whiskers?  Nope, more like fluffy.

Fluffy thorns?

That sort of reminds me of an obscure Monty Python sketch:  "Slower banter?"

[charlesoakwood]

More NIGGER-HEAD CACTUS

BARREL CACTUS - Ferocactus sp. Astrophytum sp. Bisnaga sp. Echinocactus sp. Homalocephala sp. Thelocactus sp. Thelomastus sp. Barrelcactus, Bisnaga, Bisnagre, Biznaga, Compass Cactus, Devils Head Cactus, Firkin Cactus, Hedge-Hog, Hedgehog Cactus, Igelkaktus, Nigger Head. Russian: Ekhinokaktoos. Takic: Kopash, Kupash. Warihio: Toiwe.

F. cylindraeceus (E. cylindricus?). California Barrel Cactus, Niggerhead Cactus. The fruit is edible. This plant is especially rich in emergency fluid, used as a substitute for water.

E. polycephalus (E. xeranthemoides): Cottontop Cactus, Many Headed Barrel, Niggerhead Cactus. Kawaiisu: Kuwavibi. Shoshone: Towip. Its spines: Winnoobe. Takic: Uush. The plant tends to grow in lava fields. It does not grow well in cultivation. The bud is edible. The spines are used as awls. The head is made from the lac on Chaparral and Sagebrush.

[rickl]

Ah, here we go:

Monty Python RAF Banter

[radioman]

Is it strange that Mitt seems to be getting no hateful targeted attacks?

Of course, if he is nominated, then the MSM do the usual, but they're holding back on him right now.

[trapeze]

I would tend to believe that Cain's remarks on the issue are more thoughtless than a purposeful playing of the race card.

The remarks and the venue in which they appear reflect, to me, his inexperience as a politician. The question was (seemingly) randomly inserted into the FN Sunday interview by Chris Wallace and was meant to elicit exactly the kind of response that Cain gave. A more experienced politician would have spotted the trap immediately and avoided it. Cain made the typical political neophyte mistake of assuming that he was having a televised conversation with a normal human being. He put his trust in someone who did not deserve it. Palin was similarly snared in such traps during the 2008 campaign and has gotten much better at seeing them in the intervening years.

Should we not also realize that we (as observers) are also being played by the media?

[trapeze]

Now, on the other hand, if Cain attempts to use this (seemingly invalid) point against Perry in future appearances then I will believe that he is using the race card. Until then I will extend him the benefit of the doubt.

One of the things that I have appreciated about Cain in recent (debate) appearances is his unwillingness to attack the other primary candidates. He has instead used those situations to speak positively about his own principles, his own plans, etc. while tearing down no one. That is another reason why I will cut him some slack on this incident until he proves me wrong.

One more thing...certainly there have been other (easier, less controversial) times in this primary season for Cain to have taken some race-based "advantage" and that has not, to my knowledge, occurred. Why, if this is his true nature, has this not occurred before? The most logical reason is that this is not his nature and this incident is a (purposefully) media driven aberration or gaffe.

Your mileage may vary but this is the way I am seeing this.

[trapeze]

On a tangential issue:

Why is it offensive to use the actual word "n i g g e r" while it is perfectly acceptable to (verbally) say, "the n-word" or to spell it with an asterisk when everyone knows exactly what word is being alluded to?

Obviously, it is patently offensive to use that word as an expletive or a descriptor when referring to someone of the negro race. But I just don't see why it is acceptable to use obvious substitutions for it when the discussion is merely academic rather than provocative. In an academic discussion, where no offense is intended, it seems stupid and pointless to to use these PC terms which everyone knows are meant as thinly veiled substitutions for the actual word.

In this context, is not the mere "thought" of the word every bit as offensive and outrageous as the actual word itself? When someone uses one of these substitutions does anyone not think of the actual word itself? I know I do. It's impossible not to. So, given that premise, using the "n-word" is equally offensive as the word itself.

Or...put things another way: Would it be any less offensive to use "n-word" when referring (especially directly) to someone of the negro race? I think not. So that definitely brings the offensive use of the word back to intent and context.

I am much more concerned with what is in a man's heart than what words are issued forth from his mouth, especially when the word itself is the subject of an academic discussion. This is the crux of the whole "politically incorrect speech" nonsense that the left has forced upon us.