Sheila Jackson Lee to Herman Cain: Black voters are not ‘brainwashed,’ GOP is party of Lincoln

Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee wants presidential candidate Herman Cain to know that she “take[s] issue” with his claim that black Americans are “brainwashed” into voting for Democrats.

Jackson Lee found Cain’s remarks “very insulting and demeaning,” and in response, took up a defense of the Republican Party’s long history of deserving the black vote.

Cain’s comments were made on CNN last week, where the former-Godfather’s Pizza CEO said that blacks have been, “brainwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view.”

Speaking from the House floor Monday night, the Texas congresswoman noted that the Republican Party is the party of Lincoln and has been able to court the black vote for a “number of years.”

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“I take issue, Mr. Cain, with your very unfortunate choice of words,” said Jackson Lee. “Because, if you look chronologically and historically at African-Americans, they voted Republican, they voted Democrat. They were in love with the idea of President Lincoln, who of course is known to have freed the slaves, and voted for Republicans for a number of years.”

Jackson Lee claims that black voters are simply aligned in their modern-day politics with the Democratic Party, but not “brainwashed.”

“So Mr. Cain, get your facts right,” boomed the impassioned congresswoman. “We are not brainwashed, and I am absolutely insulted by your ludicrous interpretation of African-American intellect in choosing their political party.”

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