Rick Perry Is Done For

[CaptainChewbacca]

But from where it comes, why is derogative? It seems is something implicated to the slavery? And what about the word black? Are black people offended when you call them like that? I have friends that are black and I call them either simply dude like anyone else or when in confidence "mi negro" (my black).

Its origins were just 'black skinned', but over time it evolved into the American pejorative for a person of African ancestry.

[Anguirus]

I first heard about this reading this perspective. Perry didn't put the name on the rock, or conceive of it, but there's no real evidence that he's transcended the attitude he was brought up with that this was acceptable. Of course, the same could probably be said for many Southern white males. Maybe this shouldn't be the thing to sink his campaign, but if it is I'll laugh not cry. He's said and done enough that would have sunk his campaign if we lived in a sane country.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Maybe its my 'white privilege' talking, but I don't view this as being a whole lot worse than a name like Redman Campground. Its an old name, its not a place where racists congregate to think racist thoughts and do racist things.

[whackadoodle]

Longtime hunters, cowboys and ranchers said this particular place was known by that name as long as they could remember, and still is.

“The cowboys, when they were gathering cattle, they’d say they’re going to the Matthews or Niggerhead or the Nail” pastures, said Bill Reed, a distributor for Coors beer in nearby Abilene who used to lease a hunting parcel adjacent to the Perrys’. “Those were all names. Nobody thought anything about it.”

So, it's been called that for a long time.

Perry estimated that he hunted on the property “about a dozen times” between 1983 and 2006. As he rose through the ranks of Texas politics, the rustic camp was renovated, according to people who saw the place in recent years. A second story was added to the old cabin, along with brown wood siding and an outdoor staircase. A bathhouse was added, and power lines, and a low pipe fence was built around the cabin. A new sign had been posted. It read, “Perry’s Camp.”

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.

His father painted it over, circa 1983, according to the OP article.

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

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.

If that's the case, why haven't they published the photo?

Turns out, folks, if you read those wordy-thingies after the headline, you get more details, and less moral outrage. But what would life be without Moral Panics?

[Alyrium Denryle]

But from where it comes, why is derogative? It seems is something implicated to the slavery? And what about the word black? Are black people offended when you call them like that? I have friends that are black and I call them either simply dude like anyone else or when in confidence "mi negro" (my black).

Yes. Negro and Nigger used to be the American term for black people. However, because they were slaves and it was often used in sentences like "Pick my cotton you filthy nigger" and "We gotta teach this nigger a lesson" (followed by lynching), the connotations are not exactly pleasant.

[Lord Baal]

It's curious. I'm sure that the word negro was used the same way here but never developed such a nefarious connotation afterwards. Now I wonder why? I think the Spanish where as brutal as English and then Americans with their slaves.

There should be something different in our histories to cause that. The only think I can think about now is that when we emancipated from the European power we abolished slavery right away, while it took a little bit more time for USA after they got emancipated. But I don't think that have a lot to do at all... the other thing I can think is that here basically every one were openly banging everyone else, so the population was pretty mixed (the vast majority of our population is descended of interracial couples, so most people tend to be dark or brown), but I know saw a lot of that too, but I'm not sure if it was so widespread as it was here.

Oh maybe is just a language phenomena, subject to social and geopolitic timing.

[Dalton]

But from where it comes, why is derogative? It seems is something implicated to the slavery? And what about the word black? Are black people offended when you call them like that? I have friends that are black and I call them either simply dude like anyone else or when in confidence "mi negro" (my black).

In the United States, it is a cultural taboo to use that word in a derogatory fashion since it is associated with Really Bad Stuff. "Black" however is pretty common, but most of the politically-correct types will use "African-American" instead (with the assumption therein that dark skin = from Africa).

[Todeswind]

It's not just a name on a rock, IT's THE NAME OF THE CAMP.

It's the traditional name of the camp but it was renamed "north field" or something to that effect in the 80's/early 90's for this specific reason.

[Civil War Man]

But from where it comes, why is derogative? It seems is something implicated to the slavery? And what about the word black? Are black people offended when you call them like that? I have friends that are black and I call them either simply dude like anyone else or when in confidence "mi negro" (my black).

In the United States, it is a cultural taboo to use that word in a derogatory fashion since it is associated with Really Bad Stuff. "Black" however is pretty common, but most of the politically-correct types will use "African-American" instead (with the assumption therein that dark skin = from Africa).

From what I've experienced, though, black is starting to making a comeback among even a lot of politically-correct types, since it makes fewer assumptions than African-American.

[Sriad]

It's curious. I'm sure that the word negro was used the same way here but never developed such a nefarious connotation afterwards. Now I wonder why? I think the Spanish where as brutal as English and then Americans with their slaves.

There should be something different in our histories to cause that. The only think I can think about now is that when we emancipated from the European power we abolished slavery right away, while it took a little bit more time for USA after they got emancipated. But I don't think that have a lot to do at all... the other thing I can think is that here basically every one were openly banging everyone else, so the population was pretty mixed (the vast majority of our population is descended of interracial couples, so most people tend to be dark or brown), but I know saw a lot of that too, but I'm not sure if it was so widespread as it was here.

Oh maybe is just a language phenomena, subject to social and geopolitic timing.

The term "nigger" was used in the American Slave States extensively and tacitly carried the message that black-skinned people were inferior to white-skinned. People who wanted to end slavery DELIBERATELY used different words--negro, black, colored person, etc--to distance themselves from that point of view.

After slavery ended it continued to carry that connotation, but even more pointedly. It was (and is) a deliberately maintained archaic term used to recall times of slavery and the idea that blacks are intrinsically inferior to whites, and was used that way ever since the abolition of slavery, through times of segregation, and on to today. "Negro" is, though less charged, similarly offensive for its archaic connotation.

[Flagg]

It's not just a name on a rock, IT's THE NAME OF THE CAMP.

It's the traditional name of the camp but it was renamed "north field" or something to that effect in the 80's/early 90's for this specific reason.

Yet according to one source the name on the rock continued to be "Niggerhead" as late as 2008.

[bobalot]

But from where it comes, why is derogative? It seems is something implicated to the slavery? And what about the word black? Are black people offended when you call them like that? I have friends that are black and I call them either simply dude like anyone else or when in confidence "mi negro" (my black).

Here let me Google that question for you.

Seriously though, I don't see much of a negative impact for Perry. Is there any evidence that his core supporters will be repulsed by this? I get the feeling this are the same people who drone on about the evils of "political correctness".

[Simon_Jester]

It's curious. I'm sure that the word negro was used the same way here but never developed such a nefarious connotation afterwards. Now I wonder why? I think the Spanish where as brutal as English and then Americans with their slaves.

If you live in the colonial Americas and speak Spanish every day, "negro" is simply the word for black. It gets used in neutral contexts that have nothing to do with African slaves, even as it gets used to talk about African slaves. So it won't become a degrading term for African slaves, because that would leave you with no word for, say, the color of the night sky.

In the English-speaking colonies, "black" was the word for black, and "negro" was an imported word that refers specifically to African slaves, as was its descendant term, "nigger." So those words were never used in the US for any reason except to refer to African slaves, or later the descendants of African slaves- hence the connotations, because when you use that word you tap into the history of slavery and oppression that goes with it.

Whereas the word "black," with other uses, remained neutral, and is now the socially accepted way to talk about African-Americans without using seven syllables to do it.

[Todeswind]

It's the traditional name of the camp but it was renamed "north field" or something to that effect in the 80's/early 90's for this specific reason.

Yet according to one source the name on the rock continued to be "Niggerhead" as late as 2008.

Yes and your point is?

Of course the locals still call it Niggerhead, its a naughty name for a place that is a little dirty and a bit racist. There are tons of places that are still locally referred to as "the alabama wind chimes," "clansman hill" or "red man's bluff" and the like in the United States in local parlance in spite of having been renamed. People like to remember naughty names.

I can't blame Perry for owning land (and renaming it) that has historically been called something questionable. He didn't pick the name for it and by all accounts renamed it twenty to thirty years ago. Where is the issue?

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

It's not just a name on a rock, IT's THE NAME OF THE CAMP.

It's the traditional name of the camp but it was renamed "north field" or something to that effect in the 80's/early 90's for this specific reason.

Yet according to one source the name on the rock continued to be "Niggerhead" as late as 2008.

Turns out that if one name is used for a place for as long as anyone remembers, sometimes a new one won't stick?
As has been said, Perry didn't name the place, he doesn't own the place, and he doesn't even seem to go there that often, appearantly about a dozen times in twenty-three years. The rock has been painted over, though that seems like it was a half-assed job. So come on, Perry has enough to be criticized for without manufacturing outrage over occasionally hunting at a place that got its name a hundred years or more before he was born.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Maybe its my 'white privilege' talking, but I don't view this as being a whole lot worse than a name like Redman Campground. Its an old name, its not a place where racists congregate to think racist thoughts and do racist things.

You might want to pick a better example than the name 'Redman', since that's actually a legitimate Irish name.

Unless you'd like me to change my last name for being culturally insensitive.

[Flagg]

It's the traditional name of the camp but it was renamed "north field" or something to that effect in the 80's/early 90's for this specific reason.

Yet according to one source the name on the rock continued to be "Niggerhead" as late as 2008.

Yes and your point is?

Of course the locals still call it Niggerhead, its a naughty name for a place that is a little dirty and a bit racist. There are tons of places that are still locally referred to as "the alabama wind chimes," "clansman hill" or "red man's bluff" and the like in the United States in local parlance in spite of having been renamed. People like to remember naughty names.

I can't blame Perry for owning land (and renaming it) that has historically been called something questionable. He didn't pick the name for it and by all accounts renamed it twenty to thirty years ago. Where is the issue?

He doesn't own it you illiterate fuck, he leased it, meaning he had the choice to lease another hunting lodge with a different name and never did. Instead he continued leasing "Niggerhead".

[General Mung Beans]

So Robert Byrd being a Klansman should be an issue. Neither should Barack Obama's association with Bill Ayres and Nehemiah Wright-but this, this should be an issue? Bit of a double standard isn't it?

[Stark]

I think you'll find howling about Barry's past while saying this won't loose a Republican any votes might be the double standard here.

[Todeswind]

Yes and your point is?

Of course the locals still call it Niggerhead, its a naughty name for a place that is a little dirty and a bit racist. There are tons of places that are still locally referred to as "the alabama wind chimes," "clansman hill" or "red man's bluff" and the like in the United States in local parlance in spite of having been renamed. People like to remember naughty names.

I can't blame Perry for owning land (and renaming it) that has historically been called something questionable. He didn't pick the name for it and by all accounts renamed it twenty to thirty years ago. Where is the issue?

He doesn't own it you illiterate fuck, he leased it, meaning he had the choice to lease another hunting lodge with a different name and never did. Instead he continued leasing "Niggerhead".

Then it's former name matters even less. Why should he care that a piece of land he hunts on used to be named "niggerhead" twenty years ago? What does it have to do with his hunting trip?

[CaptainChewbacca]

This seems to be the consummate political nonstory, like in 2008 when Obama ordered a hot dog with dijon mustard and the right started having fits over his 'fancy condiments'.

To sum up:

*There's a place that USED to be named Niggerhead, but was renamed about 25 years ago.
*Rick Perry didn't name it.
*Rick Perry doesn't own it.
*Rick Perry's been there 12 times in 30 years.
*The old sign is lying on the ground, painted over.

So what is Rick Perry guilty of having done? I guarantee you just about any national politician from the south has at one time or another has been somewhere that has or had a racist name, Perry is no different.

[Flagg]

Right, continually leasing a place called niggerhead is the same as Obama using dijon mustard.

[General Mung Beans]

Right, continually leasing a place called niggerhead is the same as Obama using dijon mustard.

Which is worse apparently than being close friends with a terrorist and sitting in a church with a pastor who said "Goddamn America".

[Stark]

Are you seriously saying knowing someone who said 'goddamn America' is as bad or worse than racism?

[Zinegata]

Are you saying that racism is worse than any other form of bigotry, of which blind hate towards a country counts as one of them?