The racial politics continues to emanate from Newt Gingrich’s sputtering campaign. Nothing like picking on blacks to rouse whites. Rick Tyler, a senior strategist for pro-Gingrich Winning Our Future Super PAC, accused MSNBC Tuesday night of race-baiting and blamed Democrats for failing the black community on the issues of abortion, education and poverty. Tyler said, “The Democrats have failed in the public schools with the African-Americans, they abort their babies, they’ve done nothing to lift them out of poverty. I hear all the time the Democrats have these great intentions, but their policies fail.” Rev. Al Sharpton was on the panel and I know he was foaming at the mouth to hear that mess. So, let me get this straight, whites work and lift themselves up by the bootstraps, but blacks are so dependent on entitlements to get ahead. That’s the picture they want to paint to scare whites into voting for Newt Gingrich. Sorry, but I hate to rain on Rick Tyler’s parade — I am black and have never been on welfare, had an abortion or live in poverty. The Republicans, Democrats and the so-called black leaders have failed the black community.

“Maybe we have good intentions too, but our policies haven’t been tried. … Maybe we should try our policies, that put people back to work and not [just] give them a handout, tell them to live in public housing, shut up, collect a check, and vote for Democrats,” he continued.

Tyler was responding to charges that Newt Gingrich was being racist because he criticized President Obama as an “entertainer-in-chief” and a “food stamp president.”

Tyler went on to suggest that the African-American community doesn’t have many role models, at least in movies from Hollywood.

“We just showed this movie, ‘Red Tails’ across the state in Jacksonville, you know who showed up? Military families. You know what color they were? They were African-American. You know who they brought? Their kids. Finally Hollywood made a movie with patriotic African-American role models. They don’t have any,” he said, referring to the new World War II epic about the Tuskegee Airmen. Source: Politico

Why not improve the schools in the inner cities and encourage more young black males to stay in school to get an education? Kicking the can down the road and blaming the other side won’t solve the problems. There is also the element of personal responsibility and more families should make a concerted effort to improve their lot in life. Newt Gingrich may be right on certain aspects but to continue to call President Obama the ‘food stamp president’ is offensive to the black community and he should exercise some sensitivity instead of doubling down.

As for the role models in Hollywood, we have very few but some good ones — Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, Angela Bassett, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Viola Davis, CCH Pounder, Loretta Devine, Queen Latifah, Keke Palmer, Alfre Woodard, Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Octavia Spencer, S. Epatha Merkerson, Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, James Earl Jones, Charles Dutton, Will Smith, Danny Glovere and many others. Tyler Perry’s Madea isn’t what the black experience is all about, in case Rick Tyler doesn’t know. When the industry stops being racist, then maybe we can see more blacks play substantive roles in movies and not be relegated to playing maids.  The racial politics and constant whining from Newt Gingrich and his backers aren’t going to win an election. We want substance, not race-baiting.