WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas – Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) father last month suggested that the federal government institute a “separate and unequal” minimum wage for African Americans, according to reports. The elder Cruz made his comments to the Western Williamson County Republicans Club during an event dubbed “An Hour of Power,” and explained that a minimum wage “roughly half of what we give to white people” would be “good for blacks in the end.”

“I know what people will say,” Cruz reportedly told the club. “’You have to pay everyone equally,’ they’ll say. But that’s a bunch of hogwash. Most white people know that the minimum wage is bad, and because they have that knowledge, they can handle being paid $7.25 an hour responsibly.”

“The African Americans, however,” Cruz continued. “Now that’s a different story.”

Rafael Cruz, a reverend, explained that at the heart of his plan is his belief that “the average black” does not understand that the minimum wage is actually bad. “All the handouts to blacks have kept the blacks in the poorhouse,” Cruz insisted. “What they don’t understand is that only making two or three bucks an hour is highly motivating—so I think it’s time we show them how to be less lazy.”

The younger Cruz, a junior US Senator and likely candidate for president in 2016, would not comment on his father’s plan, saying only that “we always have to take what the elder generations have to say seriously.”

“It might be crazy, or it might be the solution to all our nation’s problems,” Senator Cruz said. “I think we all need more time to reflect on this plan before we endorse or dismiss it.”

During “An Hour of Power,” Reverend Cruz also listed several other points on which he believes “blacks” are uneducated, including that “every member of the Ku Klux Klan were Democrats from the South.”

“I’d tell you why I think slavery should be making a comeback soon,” Cruz reportedly added. “But I’m not sure even good-hearted Republicans like you fellas are ready for that kind of Truth yet.”