Rick Perry Denies Inappropriate Name of Family Hunting Camp
The controversial former title of a hunting camp associated with Rick Perry has forced the Republican Presidential candidate to clear the air.
The camp located in West Texas was entitled with the N-word many years ago, and renamed in 1984. All evidence of the former name was destroyed due to the offensiveness of the word, said Perry, including the sign painted on a rock at the entrance of the camp.
“I know for a fact that in 1984, that rock was painted over. It was painted over very soon, my family did that,” said the Texas Governor.
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In the first interview since the camp topic arose, Perry told the Fox News Channel, “I think there were very much some strong inconsistencies and just misinformation in that story.”
The Washington Post originally reported on the camp, gathering seven accounts of witnesses that said the rock donned the name in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as one recalling seeing it in 2008.
“We painted over that rock and it stayed that way. I have no idea where or why people would say that they had seen that rock, because that’s just not the fact,” he added.
The intensely controversial term has created a dispute between the Perry and The Washington Post.
National Editor for the paper Kevin Merida said, “Our story was carefully reported and handled with great sensitivity. We submitted detailed written questions to the Perry campaign, and included in our story all of the points Gov. Perry wished to make. We stand by our story.”
The report came up in discussions on ABC’s television talk show series “The View” earlier this week. Whoopie Goldberg refrained from abbreviating the word, and it was bleeped out during the broadcast.
During the show, Perry’s hunting camp previously called “N*head” was repeated by co-host Barbara Walters, who immediately after added, “It’s hard for me to say, that fact that I just said it now gives me chills.”
The 82-year-old anchor then received scorn from her fellow host, Sherri Shepherd, who said, “I didn’t like the way you said it.”
Shepherd has previously shared that she has been the victim of racially-motivated maltreatment. Walters asked Shepherd if the reason she reacted in such a strong way had anything to do with Walters being white.
“Yeah, it’s something about hearing you say it.” Shepherd said. “I don’t like it when you use the word. When you said it, it’s a different connotation.”
Shepherd added that she had no adverse reaction to Goldberg saying the word. The heated moment on the show has raised questions about the word and its uses.
