Paul Ryan to meet black U.S. lawmakers after 'offensive' remarks

[Ichingcarpenter]

(Reuters) - Republican Representative Paul Ryan on Friday agreed to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus after members of the group branded his remarks about inner-city poverty this week "highly offensive".

The controversy began on Wednesday after Ryan said on William Bennett's talk radio show, "Morning in America," that there was a "tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value of work."

Representative Barbara Lee of California, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, called Ryan's remarks a "thinly veiled racial attack."

"Let's be clear, when Mr. Ryan says 'inner city,' when he says, 'culture,' these are simply code words for what he really means: 'black'," Lee said in a statement.

Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate, is known for budgets with proposed deep cuts to programs that help the poor. The potential 2016 presidential contender has made a point of proposing Republican solutions to ease poverty that focus on the private sector.

The Wisconsin lawmaker, who chairs the House Budget Committee, said in a statement that he "was inarticulate" about the point he was trying to make.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-usa-fiscal-ryan-idUSBREA2D1WQ20140314

[Skittles]

1. gawd that f***ing ASSHOLE Ryan - THE NERVE

the rich corporate assholes who are F***ING THE AMERICAN WORKER are the people who DON'T VALUE HARD WORK

[DFW]

2. Ryan should admit what he said and not backtrack

What he meant was "black," and both those who cheer him on and those who think he's a racist asshole know it.

Everyone knows what he said. Everyone knows what he meant. He won't fool anyone by backtracking. Why bother?

[eShirl]

3. Au contraire, Mr, Ryan

I'd say you were very articulate about the point you were trying to make.

[CTyankee]

8. what is it with repukes and the word "articulate"?

Romney said the same thing about his 47% remarks that bartender secretly recorded. Do they really think we're that stupid?

[3catwoman3]

33. They certainly...

...hope we are.

[Cha]

4. I don't know what good it will do but I'm glad the CBC is calling him on his ugly racist lies..

Now How's That For A Dog Whistle?




, [font size=lg]STUPID!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024661378

[exboyfil]

5. Maybe someone should

ask Ryan about the Sundown Town status of his home Janesville. Maybe that might have something to do with the higher poverty rate of blacks.

http://sundown.afro.illinois.edu/sundowntownsshow.php?id=2047

[brer cat]

6. that is an eye-opener, exboyfil.

Thanks for posting.

[myrna minx]

14. I grew up in Janesville. I can attest that during my time there

(1972-1989) there were very few people of color and even fewer who attended HS with Paul Ryan. I didn't realize Janesville was a "sun down town" by design, but in hindsight, it makes perfect sense. Of the few people of color in town was Jimmy the bus driver - who lived in Beloit but drove the bus in Janesville, an African American police officer and a family of color from England. That's how white Janesville was when I lived there. It breaks my heart to open my eyes and realize it was completely by design, though. Thanks for posting the link. I have a lot to think about today.

[exboyfil]

25. My wife grew up in a town in Iowa similar to

Janesville. We raised our kids here as well. My daughters have no African American friends, but they do have friends whose family's come from Asia and the Middle East. I went to a high school in Mississippi that had been recently integrated (1978-1981). The school was 30-40% African American. I think it was a richer experience, but even still my higher level college prep classes were not representative of the student body as a whole. For example out of 20+ students in my Honors Chemistry class only two were African American. One went on to be a doctor like his father. The other, who was in ROTC with me, died at a young age of a heart ailment (a real loss he was a great guy).

I am not sure what individuals like us can do to make the world a more diverse place. My children have been taught to always respect everyone and be fair. They just don't have opportunities to interact with African Americans. My oldest is heading off to a college with a 2.5% African American enrollment.

[PlanetaryOrbit]

7. People of many different races live in the inner city.

African-American, Hispanic, white, Asian, etc.

I don't think this can be inferred as an anti-black statement just from that alone.

[msanthrope]

9. You sound concerned. nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. I took Ryan's statement as racist and also

a classist comment that that being poor makes one lazy.

[HangOnKids]

10. Keep Telling Yourself That

[JoePhilly]

19. "inner city" is a replacement phrase for Welfare Queen.

Racists use code words so that they can act stupid about it afterwards to claim they didn't mean it that way.

They think that strategy works because they know, that the rest of us know, that they are in fact stupid.

[HERVEPA]

28. Lets be very, very generous, and say you're naive

[Feral Child]

31. Apologia.

Please do not pretend to misinterpret Ryan's statement, it's disingenuous. Ryan thinks all segments you mentioned, save the one not capitalized, are "colored"; hence, sub-human.

Also, don't excuse racist assholes, lest it's "inferred" you agree with them.

[AlinPA]

11. It will be a waste of time. Paul Ryan is a phony. And a filthy racist.

[hatrack]

23. Yep - he'll check the "apology" box and hurry back to address the mouth-breathers

[rurallib]

13. "Inner city" has been a dog whistle for black

since I was a pup. I am pretty sure I used to hear some variation of inner city back in the 60s.
If Ryan claims he does not know this, he certainly has lived a sheltered life. Or he is lying.

Given his track record on the campaign trail in 2012 (another day, another lie) I think we can safely assume he was lying. It is a way of life with Republicans.

Will he apologize and actually show remorse? Hell to the No! Will he blame the black caucus for being to sensitive? Of course!

[JoePhilly]

20. He's playing stupid ... hoping that he'll get a pass, because he actually is stupid.

Just not about this.

[MisterP]

34. frankly he's way more sheltered than any Romney or Cruz

but the guys in "Blazing Saddles" weren't saying "the Sheriff is near"...

[gollygee]

15. "He was inarticulate" means he didn't state it carefully enough to make it

an affective dogwhistle.

BTW as an aside, the word "maroon" has a racial history too! I thought you might be interested given the thread this is in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroon_(people) I know because my high school's mascot was "The Maroons" at one point but was changed because the name and logo (of an escaped slave) were obviously inappropriate.

[LibertyLover]

30. That's interesting

I went to the University of Chicago were our school colors were white and maroon, the school paper was The Maroon and sports teams were the Maroons. But our mascot was a phoenix. Perhaps it was Fawkes on one of his better days.

[LuvLoogie]

16. Don't legitimize the fuck.

No meeting. Let him take his pampered ass and go door knocking in the inner city.

[jsr]

17. Watch him lie and mischaracterize the meeting

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. He once met MLK jr on one the mountain tops

he climbed in Colorado

[jsr]

29. Ryan WILL lie. CBC should record the meeting.

[JHB]

21. I'm sure he'll find a way to wink to his audience while doing it

His real audience, that is. The people he was dog-whistling to.

[hatrack]

22. Keep digging, asshole, keep digging!

If I were a member of the CBC, I'd tell him to go fuck himself.

[jwirr]

24. At the risk of being flamed: long term economic problems lead to unemployment and poverty. It has

nothing to do with color or even where you live. It has to do with economic neglect.

It can be seen wherever there is long term unemployment and the outsourcing of jobs to other areas. I remember reading a book about unemployment in the inner cities that talked about the era when jobs were outsourced to the suburbs leaving many unemployed because they could not relocate with the jobs. The businesses left because the infrastructure of the inner city was old and it was cheaper to relocate than rebuild. In later years we have seen those same jobs continue to follow the cheap labor market around the world leaving areas of devastation behind.

People like Ryan who think the corporate world can do no wrong do not see it that way. Those of us who are the victims of this kind of cheap labor market do.

[DinahMoeHum]

26. Hey, CBC, tear Ryan a brand new asshole, OK?

[Botany]

27. The Wisconsin lawmaker, said in a statement that he "was inarticulate."

Last edited Sat Mar 15, 2014, 03:57 PM - Edit history (1)

Don't spread bull shit on toast and tell me to eat it up because it is just
"country style apple butter."

IOTW Ryan really wanted to call them n****rs.

[dembotoz]

32. born and raised in wisconsin--milwaukee north side--i understood exactly what he meant

the man is obviously a bigot






but he will be re elected because wisconsin votes for bigots

[butterfly77]

35. When..