State Senator with Black Caucus defends Governor Haley Barbour’s “Tar Babies” Comment
Here is the full statement provided by Kenny Wayne Jones, Chairman of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus:
In recent days, I’ve seen Mississippi’s former Governor Haley Barbour accused of making racist comments by calling President Obama’s policies ‘Tar Babies’.
The truth of the matter is that any public policy considered controversial is a political Tar Baby.
Religious Freedom, for example, is a political Tar Baby for Mississippi because when you touch it you get stuck, and the more you struggle with it, the more entangled you get.
Therefore, I do not condemn Governor Barbour’s statements as racist, nor do I believe he intended for anyone else to view his comments as such.
There have been people who used the term Tar Baby as a subtle way to belittle African Americans. But in this instance Governor Barbour’s statement was simply partisan rhetoric that any politically astute person is entitled to use.
The Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus will fight for those who lack an adequate voice, but we won’t attack a native Mississippians – Republican or Democratic – to appease those who would label Mississippi as a backwards state.
Governor Barbour could have chosen more politically acceptable words to describe my President’s policies, but that’s not the Haley we know.
Mississippians are tired of race bating accusations when they don’t apply, and in this instance Governor Barbour’s words were misinterpreted.
WJTV
11/12/14
