August 6, 2012

Rick Santorum Remarks

During a campaign stop in Iowa in 2012, presidential candidate Rick Santorum made a decision to single out black welfare recipients by stating insulting and inaccurate stereotypes. He told a mostly white audience that he does not want to "make black people's lives better by giving them someone else's money". He went on to say that very poor people have bad working habits and no knowledge of how to make an income "unless it's illegal".

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?

This is an example of how centuries of overt discrimination against blacks in employment, housing and education has been erased from public consciousness so that people are erroneously made to believe that blacks are disproportionately in poverty because there is something wrong with their character.

For more see, " NAACP Rips Rick Santorum for Comment about African-Americans, Welfare " .