“I don’t believe racism in this country today holds anybody back in a big way,” said Cain, former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, during an interview on CNN. “Are there some elements of racism? Yes, it gets back to if we don’t grow this economy, that is a ripple effect for every economic level, and because blacks are more disproportionately unemployed, they get hit the worst when economic policies don’t work. That’s where it starts.”
Cain believes there are other factors that result in African Americans’ subpar performances in education and in the workplace, including using their ethnicity as crutches to rationalize their existence.
“They weren’t held back because of racism,” Cain says. “People sometimes hold themselves back because they want to use racism as an excuse for them not being able to achieve what they want to achieve.”
This is the second time in a week that Cain has made explosive racial comments. If you recall, Cain said that most African Americans were “brainwashed” into staying with the Democratic Party when he believes the GOP offers a more fruitful platform for progression as a race.
“This whole notion that all black Americans are necessarily going to stay and vote Democrat and vote for Obama, that’s simply not true.” He added, “More and more black Americans are thinking for themselves. And that’s a good thing.”
–terry shropshire
