Artur Davis: Biden "in chains" comment "insulting to African-Americans"
Former U.S. Rep. Artur Davis.
/ AP Photo(CBS News) Artur Davis, a Democrat-turned-Republican former congressman from Alabama, on Wednesday accused Vice President Joe Biden of using racially divisive rhetoric that is "insulting" to African-Americans.
"I know what Joe Biden was doing yesterday," Davis said in an appearance on CNN. "Every black person in that room knew who the 'y'all' was. They knew what the chains were. They knew what the metaphor was about."
In remarks at a campaign event in Virginia Tuesday with a number of African-American audience members, the vice president lambasted Romney for allegedly wanting to repeal financial regulations enacted after the Wall Street crash of 2008.
"He's going to let the big banks once again write their own rules - unchain Wall Street!" Biden said. He added: "They're going to put you all back in chains."
Republicans pounced on the remarks. Biden later clarified his comment, stating that he had meant to say "unshackle" in reference to Republican claims that regulations "shackle" the economy.
Davis, who is black, said he was disappointed to hear Biden, "someone I grew up admiring," talk about "one party putting people in chains."
argued that the people in the audience responded negatively to the vice president's "divisive" rhetoric.
"It's a divisive tactic that's insulting to African-Americans. It's insulting to the American people," he said. "President Obama has talked so movingly about our country moving beyond race, and his own vice president makes this kind of comment yesterday? It was wrong. And the president ought to be embarrassed by it."
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There are far more important issues facing the American people today than to spend time bickering over a choice of words. Words are not going to change their circumstances, only action.
Please, will someone give this man a ticket to Romper Room so he can go and throw toys.
My Maternal Great-Grandfather was sold into indentured servitude at age 8 in 1840.
This isn't about race, brother.
"Because they will put you in chains called Obamacare," Santorum said at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 12, 2011 (watch the video embedded left at 14:05). "And you will be dependent upon government and you will never break away."
Romney himself used the word "shackles" in a Dec. 19, 2011, op-ed for USA Today, claiming:
"If we remove the shackles of government, if we unburden ourselves from the mountain of debt that we have been saddled with, we can become the Opportunity Society that we once were."
And on July 8, 2012, Rep. Allen West (R-Florida) declared that "economic dependence" (including Social Security and unemployment benefits) is "a form of modern, 21st century slavery":
"I understand that my country is at a very perilous situation," West said the next day. "And I'm going to use the words that are necessary to get the attention of the American people."
What Biden said is bad enough but to get the full context you have to listen to how he said it. But you won't be able to do that at least on CBS radio. I listen to Fox news as well so I was able to hear Biden make the statement but still. Why the heck won't CBS play what Biden said?