January 5, 2012 7:16 PM

Gingrich singles out blacks in food stamp remark

By
Lucy Madison
Topics
Campaign 2012

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a campaign stop at the Plymouth Senior Center, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012, in Plymouth, N.H.

(Credit: AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Updated: Jan. 6, 5:40 p.m. ET

Just days after Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum took heat for singling out blacks on entitlement reform, Newt Gingrich called out the African-American community for being dependent on food stamps -- despite the fact that blacks make up less than one third of recipients in the food stamp program.

Gingrich, during an appearance in Plymouth, New Hampshire, spoke about remarks he would theoretically make if invited to speak to the NAACP.

"I'm prepared, if the NAACP invites me, I'll go to their convention and talk about why the African American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps," Gingrich said.

The former House speaker has made a habit of calling President Obama the "food stamp president" -- a nickname he used on Thursday as well -- and has often painted the contrast between himself and Mr. Obama as a choice between paychecks and food stamps.

"The fact is, if I become your nominee we will make the key test very simple: Food stamps versus paychecks," Gingrich said. "Obama is the best food stamp president in American history. More people are on food stamps today because of Obama's policies than ever in history. I would like to be the best paycheck president in American history."

The use of food stamps in America has continued to climb in recent years, and hit an all-time high of nearly 45 million in 2011.

According to U.S. Census Bureau, about 28 percent of households that receive food stamps are African American, while 59 percent are white.  According to the same report, about 78 percent of American households are white, while about 12 percent are black. (The overall population is 72.4 percent white and 12.6 percent black.)

In a statement, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous called Gingrich's comments "inaccurate" and "divisive."

"It is a shame that the former Speaker feels that these types of inaccurate, divisive statements are in any way helpful to our country," Jealous said in a Friday statement. "The majority of people using food stamps are not African-American, and most people using food stamps have a job."

He continued: "We invited Speaker Gingrich to attend our annual convention several times when he was Speaker of the House, but he declined to join us. If he is invited again, I hope that he would come, with the intention to unite rather than divide."

Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told CBS News/National Journal on Thursday that the candidate wants Americans of "all backgrounds" to "have the opportunity to earn a paycheck."

Gingrich "believes that every American should have the opportunity to earn a paycheck, rather than be given a food stamp, and he is prepared to make that case in every neighborhood to all groups of all backgrounds in America," Hammond said.


Add a Comment See all 212 Comments
by Mel1x1 January 19, 2012 8:38 PM EST
In the first place : it took ten 10 years for the last republican president and congress tO RAISE the MINUM WAGES......
Second the Population is 59% over the age of 65.....
Vetreans over the age 65 are 55% ...HOMELESS...
1/3 Of MORTGAGE forclosures are by the Military.......
so no need to go by color ....Senoir and vetreans are in NEED of a "paycheck=SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK =Living wages === not the crumbs that fall of a rich men table...put poeple first then money+lobbist..
beside President O`Bama iussed $ 25.in foodtsamps?snap in Fed. 2010 And the REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR cut the foodsamps/snap 3X In ONE YEAR.....so instead of $ 9.00 a day per USDA it is now $ 3,00 and our vetreans ONLY qualified for $ 10.00 a months......so much for our HONOR to our Soldiers and sailors (for there life === our freedom)//!
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by snoopies622 January 8, 2012 9:52 AM EST
Yup, same old obnoxious pig Newt.
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by ScotDD January 6, 2012 11:31 AM EST
Very disappointed in CBS. A candidate extends his hand to meet with the NAACP to discuss their cries of the alarming unemployment rate for African Americans and the headline reads, "Gingrich singles out blacks". This is just twisting a statement to sensationalize it into an attention getting headline. Then report racial statistics for people on food stamps. Why make everything about racism?
Reply to this comment
by BWB2020 January 6, 2012 11:44 AM EST
One would think you'd know better than to posit such garbage.

But then again apparently you don't.

What would a lying, racist misanthrope have to say to those against whom he wants to declare a "culture war"?

No discussion is necessary, the causes have been known and even exacerbated by such baggers as Gingrich for generations.

He has nothing positive to say on the matter.
by m_gear January 17, 2012 1:17 AM EST
I suppose "extending his hand" was one part of it. If that's all he wanted to do, however, why not just say "I want to come talk to the NCAAP about my plans for job creation?" Of course what Gingrich actually did was say that "the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps." Such a statement would certainly seem to imply that Gingrich thinks that African-Americans are satisfied with food stamps. If he didn't think that were the case, his statement wouldn't have had any purpose. Aside from that, there is the subtler implication that most African-Americans -- "the African-American community" -- are on food stamps, which is of course, not true.
by BWB2020 January 6, 2012 11:20 AM EST
OK enough of the bull.

Mr. Gingrich, I will try to be a civil as possible.

Ever since the beginning of this racist country, "black" people, in fact, all non-"whites" were regarded as beasts of burden, to be bought and sold, or, in the case of the aboriginal inhabitants, slaughtered.

Later, when Lincoln sought to weaken the distorting influence of slave-labor states on the democratic process, he abolished slavery.

Ever since then, to this day, there have been generations of "white" racists, unable to accept the fact that "black" people were every bit as human as they, and just as much a citizen of the country as they.

When the US was still developing and growing, the assets, such as land grants for railroads, etc., contracts for construction, broadcast bandwidth, and all other components of the US economic infrastructure, were distributed in such an anti-meritocratic way as to exclude "black" people from participating, except as low-wage labor.

To date this practice continues, access to business capital, broadcast bandwidth, construction contracts, even access to export-import licenses are still granted almost exclusively to "whites".

Add to this such racists as yourself and santorum, calling for "culture wars" against us, falsely blaming us for the logical results of your own racist agenda, and that of your semi civilized progenitors.

Then you dare utter that you want to speak to the NAACP about paychecks, as if you were deserving of an audience with people with whom you want to declare a "culture war"?

Here is your paycheck, as civilized as I can put it, go to hell, go directly to hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

We neither need, nor want your "paychecks", and we don't want your joke called food stamps, what we need is to eliminate racists like yourself from any sociopolitical discussion, then begin to rebuild America from the ground up, without the influence of such lying, cowardly, ignorant, racist, un-evolved, hate-filled primordial ooze as yourself, polluting any discussion.

It is time to re-balance the assets of our country to better reflect the population diversity.

To those "whites" who lived for generations on the proceeds from that which they did not earn, but were simply granted because they were "white", I could not care less how much you scream and holler about "wealth redistribution", and the false claim of "socialism".

The fact is that it was unfairly distributed in the first place, and peaking with Reagan's "trickle down" BS, has continued to be distributed in an anti-meritocratic fashion until now, so you have nothing valid whatsoever to say in the matter.

I have no wish whatsoever to work for you, or anyone like you, I say that we need to penalize the institutions both public and private, and politicians like yourself, that hinder or prevent us in our efforts to build our own businesses, and hire our own people, and build our own economy.

I challenge you Mr. Gingrich, before you speak to the NAACP, try speaking first to me, on international TV. Then if you prove yourself capable of a debate with a no-one such as myself, then you might be deemed worthy of an audience with the NAACP.
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by grnfrg January 6, 2012 12:51 PM EST
You can't hear me, but I'm clapping. Loudly.
by cattiej January 7, 2012 4:33 PM EST
We all must remember the Gingrich has been on the dole all his life. His education was paid for by taxpayers and he continued to work for a college/university that was funded by taxpayers, he was in the House and was paid by taxpayers. He gets and this is his quote "$60,000. per speech. He took millions while "lobbying for Freddie or Fanny"..Who really knows how much they paid him. He continues to ask you for your money and if you are stupid enough to send it to him, then you deserve what you get...of course you won't get much..Anyone who gave him money, tell him you want it back...sue him for telling you lies. lies, and more lies. This married 3X adulter (present wife was the one his was having an affair with we he was still married)..I don't want this women in our White House..I don't want Nasty Newt in our White House. He was found guilty of 300 plus ethics violations...why the heck would anyone like that be allowed to run for any office including that of a dogcatcher...it's an insult to dogs and cats everywhere.
by AngryOldWhiteGuy January 6, 2012 11:18 AM EST
Between Santorum and Gingrich's slights they wonder why they can't get their foot in the door of black voters! Keep up the good work guys you ain't getting their vote anyway. Last time Obama got 98% of the black vote this time with your hard work it will only be 95%!
Reply to this comment
by BWB2020 January 6, 2012 11:13 AM EST
by ohboy231
"...There is some truth in what you say. Now address the following:
1. Too many Black households with no male/husband/father

Partially irrelevant, because many productive Americans of all ethnic stripe come from single-family homes. Funny how you imply that if a "black" man can say that he comes from a two-parent home, that racist "white" employers are then going to accept him for employment.

Also the fact that the ongoing history of hostility towards the idea of giving "black" males employment (check any stat you want), and denying venture capital to those qualified to start their own businesses, (again, check any stat) means that an unemployed male presents more of a liability in a household where what he eats is that much less that the child can eat.


"...2. Blacks doing worse in schools than other ethnic groups."

Look at the schools in which they are doing worse, underfunded, obsolete, irrelevant, and downright false study materials, corruption taking needed funding from those schools, the ridiculous "voucher" system which sends "black" students to schools where they are not welcome, instead of spending the same money at a school in a "black" neighborhood as is spent in the "white" schools.

"...3. Not taking advantage to affirmative action and college preferences, acceptance and financial aid..."

That is a myth, all those who can take whatever advantage they can, but when the remaining costs of schooling still exceeds what you can afford, because the "white" employers aren't hiring "black" people, (indeed they are really not hiring anybody these days)who would need to have a job to afford the cost of the education, such students are forced to drop out.

"...There is a significant Black under class that doesn's deserve the excuse of institutional racism (even if it exists)..."

That underclass exists at all because of institutionalized racism, and the destruction of hope that it causes. In a society where you must have money to survive, but where opportunities to earn money legally don't exist, only an ASPD-afflicted misanthrope would tell someone in that circumstance to continue to hope for the impossible, while starving.

"...They need to rais their children better and working harder at getting a good education..."

There is a lame cop-out if ever there was one, most "black" people work harder than most "white" people just to survive, and you posit that they should accept that condition, and work even harder, instead of working to end the cause, of which which you seem bent on denying the existence.
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by grnfrg January 6, 2012 12:54 PM EST
Still clapping. Not as loudly, my hands are hurting.
by videogeek1 January 6, 2012 10:32 AM EST
Someone tell this windbag that 80% of food stamp recipient households actually have someone earning a paycheck already.

The real choice isn't between paychecks and food stamps, it's between paychecks and paychecks you can actually survive on. Why don't more people ask themselves why food assistance is necessary in the first place?
Reply to this comment
by Cru09 January 6, 2012 9:49 AM EST
So Santorum and Gingrich are both focusing on how to fix black people, hm? This stinks of southern strategy.
Reply to this comment
by magnumdr January 6, 2012 9:38 AM EST
Newt Knows all. Is this guy for real?
Reply to this comment
by sharong59 January 6, 2012 10:56 AM EST
He needs to get over himself! 2 of his wives did!
by grnfrg January 6, 2012 12:55 PM EST
sharong59 LOL:)
by RobAla January 6, 2012 9:09 AM EST
Oscar Eason, President of NAACP State Conference of Alaska, Oregon and Washington State, told CBS News Gingrich's comment "goes right to the heart of real racism - that African Americans are lazy and don't want to work and depend entirely on handouts.

Eason should invite Gingrich to speak at the NAACP, and let him explain what he was attempting to say. Gingrich wasn't calling anyone lazy, he was talking about bad policy coming out of Washington.
Reply to this comment
by m_gear January 17, 2012 1:13 AM EST
Gingrich said that "the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps." Such a statement would certainly seem to imply that Gingrich thinks that African-Americans are satisfied with food stamps. If he didn't think that were the case, his statement wouldn't have had any purpose. Aside from that, there is the subtler implication that most African-Americans -- "the African-American community" -- are on food stamps, which is of course, not true.
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