Rick Perry: Is “Niggerhead” The End For Perry?

Will Rick Perry’s West Texas hunting camp, known as “Niggerhead” since before the Texas Governor and his father leased the 1070-acre property in 1983, take down Perry? Will Rick Perry’s racist, insensitive history be his undoing?

Perry used the camp to relax, hunt, and apparently, to shore up influential politicians as he made his political career. But in over two decades, according to some, Perry never bothered — or thought it important — to take down the name “Niggerhead.”

In fact, the name was on the side of a large rock slab, and ultimately, it was painted over.

Rick Perry, who lies twice as often as he tells the truth, claims he or his father had the name painted over before he brought any influential politicians or donors to the family camp in 1983 or 1984.

But The Washington Post tells a much different story.

Of those interviewed, the seven who said they saw the rock said the block-lettered name was clearly visible at different points in the 1980s and 1990s. One, a former worker on the ranch, believes he saw it as recently as 2008.

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.

Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan yesterday claimed,

“A number of claims made in the story are incorrect, inconsistent, and anonymous, including the implication that Rick Perry brought groups to the lease when the word on the rock was still visible,” Sullivan said. “The one consistent fact in the story is that the word on a rock was painted over and obscured many years ago.

“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.”

Of all the GOP presidential candidates, only Herman Cain has spoken out about “Niggerhead.”

“There isn’t a more vile, negative word than the N-word,” Cain said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And for him to leave it there as long as he did before he painted over it, it’s just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country.”

On “This Week,” Cain didn’t hesitate to point to the slur when the show’s host, Christiane Amanpour, was more cautious.

“The name of the place was called niggerhead. That is very insenstive. I think that it shows a lot of insensitivity for a very long time.”

Reverend Al Sharpton released this statement:

The Washington Post story revealing that Texas Governor Rick Perry hunted and hosted lawmakers at a hunting camp called Niggerhead is alarming and displays a new height in racial insensitivity in national politics.  Mr. Perry should immediately fully explain how he could have gone to a ranch and hunted that is named after such an obvious racist term or he should withdrawl from the race. He is either blindly insensitive or hopelessly unaware of where he spends his time. Either way it makes one wonder if he is ready for prime time and certainly whether he is ready for the White House.