A former lawmaker’s unabashed racism
A former state Representative who made national headlines for his provocative rhetoric has posted a blatantly racist meme on Facebook.
Jerry Bergevin (R-Manchester) posted the image, which actually depicts stacks of watermelons in a Mexican produce market, with the caption, “Downstairs at the While House.”
The image was included with a link to an online article disparaging Starbucks’ “Race Together” campaign, which encourages baristas to discuss race relations with customers.
Bergevin was elected to the House in 2010. He made headlines in 2012 when he claimed teaching the theory of evolution led to Nazi atrocities and the Columbine school shooting. The one-term Manchester Republican introduced legislation that would have required evolution to be taught as a theory “including the theorists’ political and ideological viewpoints and their position on the concept of atheism.”
“I want the full portrait of evolution and the people who came up with the ideas to be presented,” he told the Concord Monitor. “It’s a worldview and it’s godless. Atheism has been tried in various societies, and they’ve been pretty criminal domestically and internationally. The Soviet Union, Cuba, the Nazis, China today: they don’t respect human rights. … Columbine, remember that? They were believers in evolution. That’s evidence right there,” he said.
Bergevin was defeated in his 2012 re-election bid when he lost a Republican primary by 41 votes. He came back to win a primary bid in 2014 but was defeated in the general election, finishing third in the race for one of two seats in Hillsborough District 45.
There’s no indication where the racist image originated. I found a copy on “Nigger Jokes Page Two!” on niggermania.com.