Limbaugh On “Persecution Of Blacks In America”: “What Persecution Would That Be?”

Rush Limbaugh is dismissing the notion that racial minorities face persecution.

Limbaugh was discussing a campaign stop Mitt Romney made on May 24 at a West Philadelphia charter school. A Washington Post blog entry reported that during the event, Romney “received something of a history lecture about the persecution of blacks in America and the struggles of African American children to meet the academic achievements of their white counterparts.”

Limbaugh read from the post on his radio show and talked extensively about the meaning of the episode. After reading the line about the “persecution of blacks in America,” Limbaugh said, “What persecution would that be? Persecution of blacks in America. What are we talking -- affirmative action? What is this persecution that's going on?”

Limbaugh also gave his listeners his brief account of what happened at the event:

Romney goes to this charter school in West Philadelphia. Local officials attending the event lectured him and insulted him. The Obama campaign organized so-called residents to protests across the street from the school where Romney was. They shouted at Romney, and they told him to get out of their neighborhood.

Later, Limbaugh commented on what he described as Romney attempting “outreach to the African-American community” (emphasis added):

So it's a “damned if you do and damned if you don't” situation. Which is why -- this -- I don't blame Romney for trying this. In fact, I give him credit for it. But it's why I am of the belief that there's no compromise here. I mean, Romney shows up, and they basically are gonna say for publication that they're offended he would dare come into their neighborhood and denigrate him for doing so? Said that when he talks, he's speaking garbage. What in the world is there to compromise there? Where is the common ground?

That's why, to me, defeating these people is what's paramount, not getting along with them and not trying to find common areas of agreement. Particularly in an election year. I mean, I wouldn't expect these people to do anything other than what they are doing. They're Obama voters, they're Obama supporters. They're Democrats. They're not interested in what Romney has to say.

Full transcript below the jump.

From the May 29 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: How many of you -- change of subject. How many of you have often thought, often believed that if the Republicans would make some real, genuine outreach effort to the black community and just get 3 to 5 percent of the black vote, they -- if we could do that, that would end it. Lot of people believe that. And the rule of thumb, standard operating procedure opinion is that Republicans just never make the effort. They just -- they don't know how. They just -- they really -- outreach to the African-American community, they don't do it. They should try it. Well, Romney did. Romney went to Philadelphia.

The Washington Post has the details. “When Mitt Romney came to an inner-city charter school” last Thursday “to promote his new education agenda” -- outreach to the African-American community -- “he received a history lecture about the persecution of blacks in America and the struggles of African-American children to meet the academic achievements of their white counterparts.”

What persecution would that be? Persecution of blacks in America. What are we talking -- affirmative action? What is this persecution that's going on?

So, Romney goes in for some outreach. This story, by the way, it was in The Washington Post, and it wasn't picked up. It didn't get very much attention.

And let me briefly tell you what happened. Romney goes to this charter school in West Philadelphia. Local officials attending the event lectured him and insulted him. The Obama campaign organized so-called residents to protests across the street from the school where Romney was. They shouted at Romney, and they told him to get out of their neighborhood.

Now, I want you to just try to imagine the outrage from our news media if the Romney campaign had organized whites to tell Obama to get out of their neighborhood. But there was no outrage. This story caused none. I mean, even The Washington Post sounds amused. They think this was funny, what happened.

Well, you see, apparently the Republicans are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Not once in this entire article is it ever mentioned that Romney supports school vouchers, which Obama doesn't. That's something you'd think that local officials would support as well.

The article quotes the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, as saying that Romney, quote, “suddenly somehow found West Philadelphia.” Nutter said, “I don't know that a one-day experience in the heart of West Philly is enough to get you ready to run the United States of America,” unquote.

Now, that's a little ironic, given that you might think Mayor Nutter would be in hiding, after what he and his fellow Democrats have done to that once-great city.

Then there's a quote from a woman named Madaline Dunn, who said she was, quote, “personally offended” that Romney would visit her neighborhood. She said it was, quote, “absolutely denigrating for Romney to come in here and speak his garbage.”

Now, who is this babe, Madaline Dunn? She's a longtime Democrat political activist. She has served as a chairwoman for the radical Philadelphia Congress of the National Congress of Black Women. She's currently listed as one of Obama's Truth Team. Now, this is not in the story. I wanted to find out who -- why was this woman being quoted? I was curious. Who is this woman? The Post doesn't tell us. I found that stuff out on my own. They just portray her as just another legitimately and genuinely outraged resident.

The bottom line is, Romney attempting outreach, goes into an inner-city school to talk his education ideas in West Philly and is basically told to get the hell out. “What are you doing here, pal? We don't want you here.” It won't be long before we hear some civil rights leader saying, “They don't care about us, the Republicans, they don't care about us. They never reach out. They never try.”

So it's a “damned if you do and damned if you don't” situation. Which is why -- this -- I don't blame Romney for trying this. In fact, I give him credit for it. But it's why I am of the belief that there's no compromise here. I mean, Romney shows up, and they basically are gonna say for publication that they're offended he would dare come into their neighborhood and denigrate him for doing so? Said that when he talks, he's speaking garbage. What in the world is there to compromise there? Where is the common ground?

That's why, to me, defeating these people is what's paramount, not getting along with them and not trying to find common areas of agreement. Particularly in an election year. I mean, I wouldn't expect these people to do anything other than what they are doing. They're Obama voters, they're Obama supporters. They're Democrats. They're not interested in what Romney has to say.

Romney, to his credit, goes in there, and he can always say that he did. And he can talk about the effort that he made. But note that it wasn't widely reported. You probably didn't know about this.