WASHINGTON — Rick Perry’s presidential campaign said Sunday that his family moved quickly when they found that the Texas hunting camp they leased was named “Niggerhead,” and painted over the word on a rock next to the camp entrance.
The rapid response from the Texas governor’s campaign, to a newspaper report Sunday about the camp name and to criticism from his one African- American GOP rival, was an attempt to stem any political fallout for a candidate who has struggled to regain his footing since a weak debate performance in Florida and a surprise loss in a straw poll there.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that Perry’s family leased the Texas land starting in 1983. The newspaper reported that Perry said his father painted over the word in the early 1980s and that it was eventually turned over to further ensure the word couldn’t be seen.
But the newspaper also reported that some other visitors recalled seeing it displayed after the early 1980s.
One of Perry’s Republican opponents, businessman Herman Cain, called the use of the name troubling.
“That is very insensitive. And since Gov. Perry has been going there for years to hunt, I think that it shows a lack of sensitivity for a long time of not taking that word off of that rock and renaming the place,” Cain said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“Yes, it was painted over,” Cain said. “But how long ago was it painted over? So I’m still saying that it is a sign of insensitivity.”
Cain defeated Perry by a 2-to-1 ratio in the straw poll of Florida Republicans, a surprise setback that punctuated Perry’s poor debate performances.
Ray Sullivan, Perry’s campaign communications director, issued a statement soon after Cain was asked about the camp on the ABC and Fox morning programs.
“Mr. Cain is wrong about the Perry family’s quick action to eliminate the word on the rock but is right the word written by others long ago is insensitive and offensive. That is why the Perrys took quick action to cover and obscure it,” Sullivan said.
