| North Carolina Congressman: Charlotte Protesters 'Hate White People' for Being Successful |
| Saturday, 24 September 2016 08:25 |
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Ollstein writes: "As a third night of mass unrest over the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott rocked Charlotte, North Carolina Thursday night, the congressman who represents the city's suburbs, Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC), told the BBC that the protesters were not motivated by police violence, but white success."
North Carolina Congressman: Charlotte Protesters 'Hate White People' for Being Successful24 September 16
Robert Pittenger has a history of making inflammatory remarks.
“They hate white people because white people are successful and they’re not,” Pittinger said, as the BBC anchor gaped at him in disbelief. “It is a welfare state. We have spent trillions of dollars on welfare, and we’ve put people in bondage, so they can’t be all they’re capable of being.” Watch:
Setting aside the fact that the overwhelming majority of people on government assistance are white and have jobs, and that many white people were also out in the streets this week protesting the police, Pittenger’s comment echoed the idea?—?popular in the far right fringes of the internet?—?that Black Lives Matter protesters are anti-white. The leaders of Black Lives Matter have called this a myth, writing: “None of this is about hatred for white life. It is about acknowledging that the system already treats white lives as if they have more value.” After receiving wide condemnation for his comments, Pittenger apologized, insisted he has black friends, and accused the outlet of taking the remark out of context?—?though both the question and his full answer were aired in full. This is somewhat of a pattern for Pittenger. When he was last running for re-election in 2014, he told ThinkProgress that the ability to fire LGBT people simply for being gay is a right the government should not restrict, and compared it to the right to smoke a cigarette. Pittenger at first defended the remark to other reporters. But after local editorials excoriated him for the statement and protesters marched on his office, Pittenger claimed he was unfairly quoted. Unfortunately for him, the whole interview was recorded and publicly released. Comparing firing gay employees to smoking and saying Black Lives Matter protesters hate white people hasn’t held Pittenger back in North Carolina politics over the last several years, but that may become more difficult going forward. A court recently found North Carolina guilty of using racial gerrymandering to draw congressional districts that help white Republican politicians like Pittenger remain in power. The federal court ordered the state to redraw the maps, changing Pittenger’s district from mostly wealthy, white suburbs to include more diverse southeast Charlotte. Pittenger?—?a vocal supporter of Donald Trump who once called President Obama “Enemy Number One”?—?ran unopposed in 2014. But with a redrawn, tougher district and an FBI investigation into his finances hanging over him, he faces a tougher race this year. He won his primary in June by just 133 votes, and will face Democratic businessman Christian Cano this November. |
s a third night of 