Community | October 02, 2011 | 32 comments

Rick Perry’s Newest Problem: His Fond Memories of “Niggerhead” and Growing Up in a Sundown Town

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letsliveinpeace
It was a mostly white world. In 1950, the census counted about 900 black residents out of a population of about 13,000 in Haskell County, numbers that have declined steadily. Most blacks worked as maids or field hands and lived in an across-the-tracks neighborhood in the city of Haskell, the county seat, about 20 minutes from Paint Creek.

Throckmorton County, where the hunting camp is located, was for years considered a virtual no-go zone for blacks because of old stories about the lynching of a black man there, locals said. The 1950 Census listed one black resident in Throckmorton County out of a population of about 3,600. In 1960, there were four; in 1970, two; in 1980, none. The 2010 Census shows 11 black residents.

Mae Lou Yeldell, who is black and has lived in Haskell County for 70 years, recalled a gas station refusing to sell her father fuel when he drove the family through Throckmorton in the 1950s. She said it was not uncommon in the 1950s and ’60s for whites to greet blacks with, “Morning, nigger!”

“I heard that so much it’s like a broken record,” said Yeldell, who had never heard of the hunting spot by the river.

And you wonder why black folks had to use The Green Book as a guide for safety while touring this country?

Rick Perry’s family retreat was/is named “Niggerhead.” The Washington Post’s cover story is a distraction of course from more important issues such as a failing economy, Perry’s questionable record on jobs and the environment in Texas, and a far-Right leaning Republican presidential field that would combine Ayn Rand with the Christian Taliban. But a distraction can still be instructive and productive.

For the Left and other critics, Rick Perry’s Niggerhead hunting camp is more proof that he is a racist and a bigot. For the Right, this story will be greeted as “gotcha politics” and more bias from the “mainstream media.” Lockstep, the Right-wing media will revert to form and argue that “all of this race stuff” is playing the “race card” against white people. Who cares anyway since Perry’s dad was a Democrat and he originally owned Niggerhead anyway? Predictably, there will be more spin from Conservatives and a recurring blindness to political history, i.e. Southern Democrats aka “Dixiecrats” are now the base of the Tea Party GOP.

And of course, black Republicans such as Herman Cain will be trotted out to dance on the stage while they answer questions about Rick Perry and racism.

All in all, theatrics that are par for the course of what counts as reasonable discourse in the 24 hour opinion driven news cycle.

I would suggest that Rick Perry’s Niggerhead family retreat is important in so far as formative childhood and adult experiences impact political attitudes and beliefs. Rick Perry is from the Jim and Jane Crow South and has advocated for secession. He also panders to the Tea Party with all of their “take my America” pleadings and is part of a cultural movement that possesses an almost deranged hatred for the country’s first black President. Racism and Conservatism overlap in America; the Conservative political imagination yearns for a return to the “good old days” and is blinded by a myopic White nostalgia for the past.

In all, why should anyone be surprised that there is a Niggerhead skeleton in Rick Perry’s closet? Moreover, I would bet that there are many Niggerhead skeletons in many white folks’ closets in this country.

We must also be cautious and not paint with too broad a brush, or suggest that Rick Perry is somehow unique in this regard. He is not alone in a willful denial of white supremacy and the Slaveocracy/Jim and Jane Crow/Confederacy’s hold on American popular imagination even into the 21st century.

The white racist Southern Redemptionist fantasy and lie that is Gone with the Wind is still beloved by millions of people (all those happy black folks; white people in big houses and fancy clothes; what good fun!). Lady Antebellum is an acclaimed musical group (where are the Auschwitz singers? Or the Trail of Tears emo band?). A significant percentage of Americans do not believe that the Civil War was fought over slavery and the rights of White people to hold Black people in perpetual bondage. The Whiteness of history is glaring. Rick Perry, as demonstrated by his love for Niggerhead, is just one of many Americans who are transfixed by it.

Nevertheless, Rick Perry’s Niggerhead moment is teachable history. For that reason it is important.

Rick Perry grew up in a sundown town. As James Loewen exhaustively and masterfully documents, there were thousands of these communities across the country where blacks (and in some cases Jews, Mexicans and other non-whites) were not allowed to live, journey through, or be present in after dark. These towns were often created by racial violence and the wholesale ethnic cleansing of non-whites through murder, forced exile, rape, banishment, theft, and violence.

When we wonder why some neighborhoods look the way that they do, why there are no black folks or other people of color living there, or stand vexed by the intergenerational wealth gap in the United States, part of the answer lies in American Apartheid. Sundown towns were a key part of the Racial State’s apparatus and how it structured the day to day lives of all people.

Racial terrorism was a tool of economic exploitation. Because many in White America are loathe to acknowledge the power of structures and institutions as they cling to the lie that is the myth of meritocracy, Niggerhead is a reminder of lived history in the present. Yesterday wasn’t even yesterday; it created the present terms of political, cultural, economic, and social engagement.

While some Americans have a limited knowledge of the relationship between housing segregation and the maintenance of the colorline, fewer know about sundown towns and America’s history of ethnic cleansing. This history hides in plain sight. It lives on in debates over the racialized names of rivers, towns, mountains, and other public places. It is present when real estate agents refuse to show people of color homes in certain communities. It is the ether and lifeblood of whitopia.

Ignorance of race and racism’s historic role in structuring life chances, and basic geographies such as where one lived, married, worked, and traveled, is especially common among the post-Civil Rights generation. This dynamic is especially true for Millennials who would be aghast at the reality of white supremacy as the norm for American history where their imagined multicultural moment is indeed an aberration–a very recent development–and one that works through conservative colorblindness as opposed to a deep and radical engagement with human difference, identity, justice.

Rick Perry’s Niggerhead moment will be a short-lived blip on the news radar. Niggerhead will confirm what his detractors already believe about Rick Perry. Niggerhead will encourage his supporters to circle the wagons and double down their support because their “culture” is under assault. Unfortunately, Niggerhead will be a missed opportunity. This could be a teachable moment where White Americans could choose to look in the mirror and see the collective ugliness looking back at them. Whiteness, for most people in America, and indeed the world, was the face of terror. It was ugly and not beautiful.

Folks of all colors should know their shared history; instead it is easier to look away, make up fun fictions, and tell yourself easy lies and platitudes about “post-racial” America.

Remember folks, there is a little Niggerhead in all of us…for some like Rick Perry, a good deal more than others.

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32 comments // Rick Perry’s Newest Problem: His Fond Memories of “Niggerhead” and Growing Up in a Sundown Town

  • faye59
    • +1
      faye59  

    • Well, of course as a result of Cain criticizing Perry; he's the one being attacked by Limbaugh and the other right-wing talkers. The poor fool. Maybe he'll finally wake up and realize that they will not allow him into their inner circle. I was waiting for this because I knew they would use him to kill his chance of becoming their nominee.Now I wonder who else he thinks has been brainwashed?

    • 8 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • Johnny_Los_Angeles
  • Paratus
    • -2
      Paratus  

    • I'll use the words of the opening post. ".....Perry’s dad was a Democrat and he originally owned Niggerhead...". Now somehow this "..is more proof that he is a racist and a bigot." So now we are saying that racism is born, not learned or culturally acquired. Sorta like homosexuality. Hhmmmm. Interesting theory. Would it not follow that racism is ok?
      The poster is correct. This IS more "gotcha politics". No other way to put it. From what the news reports are saying, the name was painted over long ago, the problems with using white paint to cover black lettering notwithstanding.
      I'm not a Rick Perry fan but concluding that Perry is a racist because his father built a place named Niggerhead is tough to argue. I don't buy that as proof. I was just wondering if the Obummer supporters had run out of issues to use to try and prop up their candidate in the face of a possible Perry assault. How about we stick to policy differences and leave the actions of the parents of the candidates out of it. And no, don't try and argue that because the son hunted at his parents camp he supported the name. Nice try but no cigar.

    • 8 months ago
  • DanCastro
    • +2
      DanCastro  
    • Paratus:

      Nice attempt to 'white wash' the problem yourself, but as you say, simply painting over the letters doesn't remove the time in our history when it was considered "ok" to use and the only reason it is not today is because human beings began to realize that we all descended from the same chimp stock out of east Africa. Like the failure to speak out against booing our gay soldiers, it is not that the history is bad, the present is not looking that good either. Not a one of the repugnant candidates said a word until they were interviewed later and then 'discovered' they were disgusted or at least mildly offended. This is what is "reprehensible" in the words of our VP!

    • 8 months ago
  • Johnny_Los_Angeles
    • +1
      Johnny_Los_Angeles  

    • I lived in TX recently for two years (dont ask) and i found it very odd, there is a large number of black people in some areas that have lived side by side with white people for generations, but at best they just tolerate eachother and keep to themselves they dont really interact or integrate at all, and just beneath the surface of being polite they really cant stand eachother.

    • 8 months ago
  • maasanova
    • -4
      maasanova  

    • I've read his replies to the (non-issue) controversy and he appears to be lying about what he allegedly did or did not do about the rock.

      That being said as distasteful as the rock is I could care less what the rock says and if I were Perry I would tell the media to f*off and stop bothering me about a f*ing rock in the f*ing goddamn middle of nowhere.

      God help us all if people think that a rock in the f*ing middle of nowhere is the most important reason why we shouldn't vote for Rick Perry.

    • 8 months ago
  • DEM46
    • +1
      DEM46  
    • maasanova:

      His indifference to a racist name for somewhere his family visited when he was a child/young man isn't important?

      I'll agree that this isn't the most important reason to torpedo the man but to imply that something so racist during his formative years is unimportant - probably isn't the best way to approach this issue.

    • 8 months ago
  • maasanova
    • -2
      maasanova  
    • DEM46:

      My point is that if Rick Perry's racism was truly an issue then it surely would have been brought up at some point during his multiple election campaigns. Especially by black political leaders such as the very powerful and outspoken as Texas' Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee.

      Wouldn't you agree?

      Besides the publicity that this fake outrage against a rock in the middle of nowhere is currently generating is probably doing wonders for rejuvinating the sagging Perry campaign than actually harming it.

    • 8 months ago
  • DEM46
    • -2
      DEM46  

    • Does this prove Rick's a racist today? No, but more importantly I haven't heard him say this was wrong and express remorse for the name used for this hunting camp.

      This is critical or he is likely to still have a lack of empathy for those persecuted during this shameful time in American History.

    • 8 months ago
  • BrushwithDeathToothpaste
    • 0
      BrushwithDeathToothpaste  

    • Excellent. This post expresses my opinion to the letter. We are focusing too much on a word and not enough on the culture around it. Rick Perry should not be held accountable for this issue. This issue should not be used to distract from his overall incompetence.

    • 8 months ago
  • faye59
  • Anonmaly
    • -1
      Anonmaly  

    • Alright, after reading both Wikipedia entries.... I'd much rather be called "nigger", than "cracker"...

      "The term Cracker was also given to the farm hands that would work on the plantations as slave drivers. They would put a short length of twisted twine or string attached to the end of a whip to produce a cracking sound. The plantation owners as well as the slaves began to refer to them as the Crackers."

      Wondering how many words out there, there are, that the usage of automatically makes you a "ist", or demonstrating some for of "ism"....?

    • 8 months ago
  • Anonmaly
    • -1
      Anonmaly  

    • Would "Crackerhead" have been any better?....

      Just wondering, I kinda use that one regularly in reference to some dumb cracker...

    • 8 months ago
  • Anonmaly
    • -1
      Anonmaly  

    • The ACLU once accused Obama of "morphing into Bush" on his foreign policy... You throw in the, I can't safely cultivate or consume a plant in a "free" country... A plant Obama said a few times we need to reconsider the legal status of...

      Just saying, you can throw "racism" at everyone who disagrees with Obama, but it won't work.

      Now it may very well be true that; "Rick Perry" is a racist... Idk the man, but trying to turn this into a; "All republicans are racist." statement... Bullshit.

      I'm too gutter, the shit doesn't offend me on either side... I've seen black "rednecks" rocking a confederate flag on their own front porch. Neighborhoods (in the south) if a white person walks into, several people (neighborhood inhabitants) start going "Wtf you doing here cracker..?" as they ask themselves "who let him in" and debate whether or not to send him out to ICU....

      Of course, there's the white racism on the other side of town, which is no less harsh. Idk I've met a few people with racial slurs as nick-names... I've had to look at a few people and go; "You want me to call you what?... Are you looking for an excuse?"...

      Granted, Perry campaign over... If it makes you feel better, feel free to accept this is the indisputable proof that he is racist... I don't care, wasn't voting for him either way.

      I'm just thankful I'm young enough not to have seen first hand the atrocities and harsh reality on a daily basis that causes so much animosity over a few words... It's not that i don't understand, I just saw allot more classism than racism anyway...

      And you probably find the root issue with racists is; classism, elitism, "anything to justify me being a greedy pig, because I'm better than you", mentality....

      Poor white aren't worth a negligible amount more to a racist, especially when you got stereotypes saying; "They won't work as hard..."

    • 8 months ago
  • maasanova
  • nanac
    • +4
      nanac  

    • America isn't a post-racial Country, racism is alive and well, in the good/old USA..In Rick Perry's Texas, there are segregated towns where Blacks only work or do business, and flee before sundown.
      As long as White Americans are in denial of it's existence, it will continue to thrive...
      James Byrd Jr was drugged to his death on 6/7/98, in Jasper Texas, by three White supremacist.

    • 8 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • grammabet
    • +1
      grammabet  

    • Thank you LLIP for this very informative article.This is why the tea party/GOP love him,some Dems too.Disheartning,will it ever end?

    • 8 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • nanac
    • +2
      nanac  

    • Rick Perry don't speak with a Southern drawl, and wear cowboy boots for nothing. He is sending a message to his Tea-Bagger supporters, that he is one of them. A hater of diversity..

    • 8 months ago
  • Leen61
    • +4
      Leen61  

    • Great post, llip! This is history all of us should know. It sadly will be a blip on the screen as the article says, but it should be spread widely. This is not a post racial nation. Right here in the apt. complex I live in, the owners will not rent to African Americans til this day! They have been fined for this twice and they STILL won't rent to them! And yes, the Civil War was about the right to own slaves, nothing more.

    • 8 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • Leen61
  • PIANORAMA
  • letsliveinpeace
  • bailey78
  • Milieu
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
    • +3
      letsliveinpeace  

    • Green Book’ turns page back to Jim Crow
      NEW HAVEN — Not long ago, if you were an African-American and decided to take a road trip in this country, you made sure to carry a travel guide called “The Negro Motorist Green Book.”

      In the days of Jim Crow laws, segregated facilities and racism that could lurk anywhere, the Green Book let black tourists know where it was safe to stay overnight, to eat and to enjoy the nightlife.

      It was a guidebook to black America in the days when African-Americans were rising into the middle class, buying cars and venturing onto the highways.

      The guide helped inspire playwright Calvin Alexander Ramsey, whose play “The Green Book” will be presented in a concert reading at 8 tonight at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

      “Any black person, whether they were a Ph.D. or a mechanic, would have trouble traveling during that period,” said Ramsey of the middle decades of the 20th century. While the automobile brought freedom, “it opened a whole can of new worms for them.”

      “They just didn’t know how they were going to be treated. Were they going to be assaulted? Will I get my change back? Will they take my money at all?”

      Ramsey’s play, set in 1950, involves Keith, an advertising salesman for the Green Book, played by Edwin Lee Gibson, who meets Victor, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, portrayed by Bruce Altman. Their meeting forms the emotional heart of the play.

      “The young black guy sort of believes that, since we live in a segregated society, let’s make the most of it,” Ramsey said, while the Jewish man “knows that people who suppose supremacy over another group eventually will turn on that group.”

      “He’s an interesting character, I think,” Gibson said of Keith. “Because he is a bit indicative of really what I think some brown-skinned folks really deal with, which is the dichotomy of how to do for yourself as you are doing for your people.”

      Lina Zerbarini, associate rabbi of the Slifka Center, said she chose to present “The Green Book” because “I’d read about it and it seemed to be kind of a powerful and important interaction of the two communities, and the possibility of bringing together the communities on this campus.” She said she places great importance on remembering the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. “For me as an American Jew, King’s teachings resonate very significantly in terms of what it means to be both a Jew and an American,” she said. Continued...

      The Green Book is symbolic of segregated America, a place where blacks were beaten, refused service and worse, but which also produced a rich cultural heritage, based in places such as New York’s Harlem. It was created by Victor H. Green, a travel agent, who had seen similar guides for Jewish travelers.

      The book lets the traveler know where those enclaves are across the country. The 1949 edition lists several places in New Haven: a hotel run by Phillis Wheatley on Canal Street, two “tourist homes” run by Dr. M.F. Allen and Mrs. C. Raone on Dixwell Avenue, the restaurants Monterey and Belmonts, also on Dixwell, five beauty parlors on Orchard and Goffe streets, as well as Dixwell, and two nightclubs.

      In West Haven, the Seaview Hotel and the Hoot Owl tavern, both on Beach Street, welcomed black travelers.

      “There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published,” says the introduction to the 1949 edition. “That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment.”

      John D. Rockefeller Sr., founder of Standard Oil Co., promoted the Green Book, hiring black salesmen to sell ads. He hired African-Americans to run some of his Esso gas stations, which sold the Green Book. The book included “safe driving rules,” such as, “Even on highways, look out for parked cars,” and “Remember that Junior thinks that the ignition key is something to play with.”

      The reading, which is free, will be held at the Slifka Center, 80 Wall St.

    • 8 months ago
  • faye59
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