Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's remarks about whether "the Negro" fared better under slavery represents the latest in a series of incendiary racial comments from a new crop of folk heroes embraced in some conservative circles. "They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton," Bundy said to reporters, according to The New York Times. "And I've often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn't get no more freedom. They got less freedom," he was quoted as saying.
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Politicians back away from Cliven Bundy's comments on blacks, welfare and slaves
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Bundy, Ted Nugent and Phil Robertson have all echoed similarly insensitive sentiments
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Experts on race and politics say such comments speak to an active fringe element in America
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Politicians must tread carefully, experts say, in embracing such cause célèbres
And that's put politicians who have previously embraced men such as @placeholder, Nugent and Robertson as cause célèbres in an awkward position.