Anne-Sophie Leclere (France)
In August 2013, French politician Anne-Sophie Leclere published an image on her Facebook page showing a baby monkey, with a caption underneath reading “At 18 months”, alongside Justice Minister Christiane Taubira – who is black – with the caption “Now.”
When confronted about the image, Leclere defended publishing it, repeatedly insisting Taubira was “une sauvage”, which can translate as “wild animal” or “savage.”
“Honestly, she’s a wild animal, coming on TV with that devil’s smile,” said Leclere. “I’d prefer to see her swinging from a tree than in government,” she added, denying that she or the photo was racist, and claiming “I have friends who are Black.”
Paul Ryan (United States)
House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, claimed in a radio interview back in March that poverty is caused by men in “our inner cities.”
Citing the work of Charles Murray — a conservative who argues Blacks are genetically less intelligent than whites — to prove his point, Ryan said. “We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning to value the culture of work, so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.”
