Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry accused his party of trading its “moral legitimacy” for political pragmatism in abandoning the cause of African Americans and, along with it, the black vote.

“We found that we did need it to win,” the former Texas governor said. “But when we gave up trying to win the support of African Americans we lost our moral legitimacy as the party of Lincoln, the party of equal opportunity for all.”…

 “Republicans have a lot to do to earn the trust of African Americans,” said the former Texas governor, an acknowledgement of the party’s “southern strategy” that dates from the 1970s and aimed to build a winning coalition by appealing to  white voters who were alienated by the Democratic Party’s championing of civil rights. The longest-serving governor of a state that borders Mexico and a population that is nearly 38 percent Hispanic, Perry also took a swipe at one of his Republican rivals, Donald Trump, saying that Trump’s recent disparaging comments about Mexico and Mexican immigrants do not “reflect the Republican Party.”…

“Why is it today so many black families feel left behind?” he asked, pointing out that approximately one in four African Americans live under the poverty line and that number has increased under Obama. “Democrats have long had the opportunity to govern the African American communities. It is time for black families to hold them accountable for the results.”