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Demand that S.C.'s Lt. Governor Apologize for Comparing Poor People to "Stray Animals"
  1. Signatures
    345 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. South Carolina Lt. Governor (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • South Carolina Lt. Governor (Andre Bauer)
      • Chairman, South Carolina Republican Party (Karen Floyd)
  2. Created By
    Josie Raymond
    Brooklyn, NY
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

Update: Bauer has issued what some are calling an apology. He has referred to poor people as domesticated animals rather than stray ones. "I never intended to tie people to animals," he said on Jan. 25, then added, "If you have a cat, if you take it in your house and feed it and love it, what happens when you go out of town?" This is not an apology -- keep the pressure on Andre Bauer.

South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, who may very well be the Republican nominee for this fall's gubernatorial election, has made startlingly hateful and ignorant comments about people living in poverty in his state. That's a lot of people -- according to 2008 data from the Census Bureau, 15.7 percent of the population, or about 800,000 South Carolinians, live in poverty.

Speaking at a town hall meeting on January 22, Bauer told lawmakers and voters, "My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't think too much further than that. And so what you've got to do is you've got to curtail that type of behavior. They don't know any better."

While not explicitly racist, his scorn is disproportionally directed at minorities. The majority of people in South Carolina living in poverty are black or Hispanic despite the fact that blacks and Hispanics make up less than a third of the state population. There is a history of conservative white politicians making similar statements that use poverty as a euphemism for minorities in order toconjure up racist sentiments for political gain under the pretense of criticizing social programs. It's time for this to stop.

Bauer, who is currently fund-raising for a November run for governor, displayed a remarkable and willful ignorance of the causes and effects of poverty when he blamed the poor for institutional obstacles, rather than blame institutional obstacles for the rampant poverty in his state. Unfortunately, as with Rep. Joe Wilson's fund-raising success after he shouted "You lie!" during President Obama's speech to Congress last year, Bauer might reap political rewards from his remarks. Let's make sure he doesn't. Demand an apology from Bauer and a disavowal from the SC GOP.

Recent Signatures

Apologize for Insensitive Remarks About South Carolinians Living in Poverty

Greetings,

On Friday, January 22, you compared the 800,000 South Carolinians living in poverty to "stray animals." Unfortunately, you chose to blame the poor for institutional obstacles, rather than blame institutional obstacles for the rampant poverty in South Carolina. I find this unbecoming for a Lt. Governor.

I urge you, Mr. Bauer, to apologize for your insensitive remarks. I am copying Karen Floyd, the chairwoman of the South Carolina Republican Party, to let her know that I am offended by your discriminatory comments and to ask her to disavow your remarks on behalf of the SC GOP. Regardless of your intent, you degraded more than 15 percent of your state's population simply for being poor.

You added that the state should cut off public assistance to residents who fail drug tests or who don't attend parent-teacher conferences or PTA meetings. In doing so, you made it clear that you think that using drugs and missing PTA meetings are products of laziness, and that you refuse to believe that addiction is not a choice and that parents may have valid reasons for missing optional PTA meetings (lack of transportation and childcare, second shift jobs, etc.).

You also mistakenly associate getting free lunches with low test scores. In reality, the causal relationship is between poverty and low test scores and the free and reduced-price lunches are a symptom of poverty. There are many reasons why students living in poverty get worse test scores than wealthy or middle-class students: poorly-funded schools with less experienced teachers, unstable households, inability to pay for enrichment activities, low expectations, less educated parents; all of these are the effects of living in poverty, not matters of choice that can be remedied in a PTA meeting.

Further, your scorn is disproportionally directed at minorities. The majority of people in South Carolina living in poverty are black or Hispanic despite the fact that blacks and Hispanics make up less than a third of the state population.

If you aspire to become governor, you must learn to treat all South Carolinians with fairness and compassion. Apologizing for your remarks would be a start.

[Your name]

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