Melissa Harris Perry: Pointing Out Only 53% Pay Federal Taxes Is "Racism"

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(Real Clear Politics) - MSNBC race relations commentator extraordinare Melissa Harris Perry explains it is racist when Michele Bachmann points out only 53% of Americans pay federal income tax and says we all need to pay.

"What that is meant to imply is that there is a whole group that is dependent," Harris Perry analyzed.

Harris Perry says that 53% talk is just codeword for the "2011 version of the welfare queen."

Harris Perry also has this interesting theory that some words appear less overtly racialized because those words have been effectively racialized. For example, according to Harris Perry, when someone says "crime" they really mean black people.

Perry, as well as being an expert on race, is a columnist for The Nation.