Meet the North Carolinan Who Praised Slavery At CPAC

Impact

A bold North Carolina man spoke out at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at a panel discussion on GOP minorities. 30-year-old Scott Terry shocked the conference room when defending slavery and expressing sentiments for a revival of segregation practices. As if I needed any more proof of the continued racism in the U.S.

 

In a video documenting Terry’s ignorant statements at the panel titled “Trump the Race Card”, he claimed that his “demographic” is neglected at the expense of other minority groups. Terry was accompanied by Matthew Heimbach, founder of the White Student Union at Towson University in Maryland. K. Carl Smith was the panelist who fell victim to Terry’s racial rant. Smith released a statement in response to the incident:

"A young man who wasn’t a Tea Party Patriot, made some racially insensitive comments, he said: 'Blacks should be happy that the slave master gave them shelter, clothing, and food.' At the conclusion of the breakout session, I further explained to him the Frederick Douglass Republican message, which he embraced, bought a book, and we left as friends."

Terry also took the opportunity to conduct an interview with ThinkProgress defending his radical arguments. Terry reportedly remarked that African Americans should vote in Africa and that his message was intended to speak on behalf of all Tea Party Republicans.

Matthew Heimbach continued to make headlines when organizing a student run crime patrol led by the White Student Union at Towson University. In a statement on the organization’s blog, Heimbach warned of a supposed increase in crime from black students.

“The frequent robberies, sexual assaults, and acts of vandalism at Towson University are not often reported in the local media. For those who are not Towson students it seems hard to fathom that every single day black predators prey upon the majority white Towson University student body. White Southern men have long been called to defend their communities when law enforcement and the State seem unwilling to protect our people,” he wrote.

Where to begin? Does this level of ignorance seriously exist today? While both Terry and Heimbach have erroneously exercised their First Amendment rights, their arguments lack complete credibility. It is hard to fathom that some Americans think this way. While I’d like to hope that these two bigoted men are just a couple of bad seeds, unfortunately they may have a significant following, leaving intolerance a pertinent part of American culture.