Stay in your place Juan!!!

By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
TriceEdneyWire.com Columnist

On Monday, January 16, 2012, the night of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday observance, FOX News commentator and Republican Party debate moderator, Juan Williams, asked candidate Newt Gingrich if he were at all concerned about the suggested racist intent of the messages of his (Gingrich’s) campaign.

Replying “NO!!!” and extending his response with a long, pejorative”Juaaaaannnnnn,” Mr. Gingrich went on to explain how it was his goal to teach Black people the ethics of hard work. The crowd booed and roared with approval of Mr. Gingrich’s insulting response to Juan. At a press conference on the following day, one of Mr. Gingrich’s fans thanked him for putting Juan Williams “in his place” for asking a “ludicrous question.” Mr. Gingrich replied with a self-satisfied “You’re welcome.”

The racial implications of this exchange and subsequent response are open to debate, but several impartial television “talking heads” acknowledged their recognition of the subliminal message in Mr. Gingrich’s statements. They spoke of the “dog whistle” effect of his words – those messages that were communicated without the use of words – a message that harkened to an age of the practice of white racial supremacy.

There is no surprise in Mr. Gingrich’s proposal that African-American youth be hired to replace the custodial staffs of schools for the purpose of developing a missing work ethic. If Mr. Gingrich is to be believed, there is no one in the African-American community who can provide our youth with the model of a self-sufficient, self-reliant working citizen.

With the level of social segregation that remains in our communities, it is more than likely that any custodian in a school that serves an African-American school is him or herself an African American. I ask, where is the logic of firing a productive adult worker in order to hire a youth? Are you interested in instilling a work ethic, Mr. Gingrich, or is your interest in conditioning youth to the belief that their career options are limited to “select” occupations? Mr. Gingrich has also offered to go to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to tell Black people about preferring jobs to food stamps.

In the Republican debate, Mr. Gingrich called President Barack Obama the “Food Stamp President” and chastised him for “placing more people on food stamps than any other President in history.” His facts may be correct, but he shows the depths of his dishonesty with his implication that the principle recipients of food stamps are Black. He is too dishonest to say that a majority of all food stamp recipients are not Black. He is too dishonest to tell his audiences that the reason for the increase in food stamp recipients is based on the economic conditions left to President Obama by his predecessor. He will not say that the obstructionist GOP Congress wishes to take us back to the President Bush era that ignored the 99 percent and gave unfair tax advantages to the 1 percent.

I am satisfied with my interpretation of Mr. Gingrich’s message and my assessment of its intent. It is clear to me that Mr. Gingrich is making an aggressive appeal to the basest voter instincts. He is appealing to the desire of many to turn back the clock on the cultural and social interaction between Blacks and whites. He is intent on re-igniting the flames of racial divisiveness and hostility to assure a strong voter turnout of those who are likewise intent on taking our country back to a very ugly period.

For those, like me, whose developmental roots are planted deep in the traditions of the old South, the message from Mr. Gingrich is clear – “Negro, stay in your place.”

This article was originally published in the January 30, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper