11/10: There Goes The Neighborhood
A few days ago I mentioned hearing on Neal Boortz’s show a race-baiting political ad that took place in Atlanta. Now the commercial’s speakers claim the ad wasn’t inflammatory. Here are some highlights of the linked article.
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said Thursday that she doesn't regret her role in a controversial eleventh-hour campaign spot that raised the specter of black voters once again "fighting off dogs and water hoses" if a Republican candidate were elected to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.…
"If you were offended by something I said, I apologize. But I'm actually infuriated by some of the partisan and divisive politics I've seen in the past five years. What I said in that ad, I said right-wing Republicans, I didn't give them any gender or race. I happen to believe that right-wing Republicans have made some big mistakes in America, and I said exactly what I thought.
"John Lewis spoke of his experiences. Andy Young spoke of his. I know I wouldn't be standing here if it hadn't been for Andy Young and John Lewis. The bottom line is that I don't know of anybody in my position who wouldn't stand with Andy Young and John Lewis."
Young said Thursday that he, too, has no regrets about taking part in the ad.
Franklin said the ad was in a response to a mailing by Fulton Republicans that said Democrats win elections by lying and stealing. "Sometimes you just have to fight back," she said.
…
"I don't think there was anything racially inflammatory at all," Lewis said this week. "The ad was straightforward. Anyone who saw it as race-baiting failed to see the ad."
Eaves said he was shocked that people have reacted negatively to the ad.
"Race-baiting was not our intent," he said, adding that they simply wanted to get out the vote.
Eaves said his campaign staff wrote the ad and provided the text to Young, Franklin and Lewis, who obviously approved it and delivered the audio for the ad.
OK. Now, let's go back to that ad’s message.
"On November 7th we face the most dangerous situation we ever have. If you think fighting off dogs and water hoses in the sixties was bad, imagine if we sit idly by and let the right-wing Republicans take control of the Fulton County Commission."
"The efforts of Martin and Coretta King, Hosea Williams, Maynard Jackson and many others will be lost. That's why we must stand up and we must turn out the vote for the Democrats on Election Day."
"And especially for John Eaves for Fulton County Commission Chairman. Unless you want them to turn back the clock on equal rights and human rights and economic opportunity for all of us, vote for John Eaves as Fulton County Chairman"
"Your very life may depend on it."
Yeah. I see no race-baiting there. Well, I wouldn’t if I was brought up in one of those inner-city government schools because I wouldn’t be able to read the text. Say, this gives me an idea, but first I have to take a trip down memory lane. Back in my college days, Pennsylvania’s governor at the time, Tom Ridge, was running for re-election, and the Democrats nominated a guy that makes Lynn Swann look like a serious gubernatorial contender. The guy’s name was Ivan Itkin, and he was a nice-enough person. The problem was he had no money in his campaign coffers, and he didn’t run the greatest of campaigns either. However, he managed to show up at our college’s television studio for a taped interview session. Of course, he didn’t realize that this recording was only going to be broadcast within our college dorm rooms; I think the broadcasting professor fibbed a little when telling him who was going to be watching this taped interview. But I digress.
After the interview concluded, I was waiting for Itkin to get the television makeup off his face so that I could ask him a few questions for our student newspaper. During that time I spoke with our broadcasting professor, who was a nice enough chick. There was one problem: Because I was studying print media, and she dealt with broadcast journalism, I don’t think she got the memo on what my political opinions were. You may find this hard to believe, but I wasn’t the most popular kid in college. I didn’t recite what Rush said in my classes in an attempt to throw my professors’ lesson plan off course, but I didn’t back down from a debate or snide liberal remarks, either. Well, this prof began talking to me about a local event that was making some waves, and I think she had assumed that I was on the same side of the topic as she was. She was wrong.
There was this community that wasn’t too far from where I lived, and some politicians were trying to “integrate” the community. In an effort to “diversify” this neighborhood, which had families who worked all their life in order to get where they were, the government was trying to relocate ghetto trash from the city to this corner of suburbia. Naturally, the residents of this community didn’t take too kindly to this effort and were trying to do everything in their power to stop this social experiment. I don’t blame these people one iota for doing so; the professor, on the other hand, did — and rather emphatically, too. Of course, when she said to me, “Can you believe these people (the current residents) would act this way?” I replied, “Yes, as would I.” Wrong answer. Thank God she wasn’t in charge of my grades for any of my classes. I then made some remark about how if people who want to give freeloaders something that should be earned, then these do-gooders should let these people move into their communities. Wrong answer again. Fortunately, Itkin came out from his makeup room to my rescue, and I went to ask him a few questions.
Yeah, I know. I’m a big ‘ol racist. Sorry folks, but this has nothing to do with race. It has to do with money. If you own a house, chances are it will be the biggest investment of your life. When your neighborhood becomes the focus of a social experiment where people who have not earned the property they were given suddenly get handed the American dream, it’s a sure bet the upkeep of their residence will be less than spectacular. Add a few more houses that will suffer from this condition, and just try to sell your property at the market value you think it’s worth. As a homeowner, I would fight tooth and nail if my local representatives tried that shit on my block. As long as my next-door neighbors don’t have a fleet of cars with cinder blocks as wheels parked out on their front lawn, I don’t care what race they are.
Anyway, the reason for this story is that in case I’m ever in this situation, I’ll simply take the commercial copy from those Hot-lanta race-baiters and reword it to suit my needs.
"This kkktookmybabyaway. On November 7th our neighborhood faces the most dangerous situation we ever have. If you think fighting off Section 8 tenants in the sixties was bad, imagine if we sit idly by and let these same welfare recipients take control of our neighborhood. Your very life may depend on it."
If this doesn’t work I’ll burn a lower-case “t” on a few lawns, telling them it’s “time to leave.”
Oh, and back to my Itkin story. After I spoke with this guy, I was by an elevator waiting to leave for the night. This makeup chick was waiting by the elevator, too. I was waiting for an elevator going down to the main floor where I would then head out to a nearby local bus stop while she was waiting for an elevator going up to her dorm. We struck up a conversation about Itkin, and this chick began saying what a nice man he was. I added, “too bad he has no chance of being elected.” Befuddled, I was asked why. After explaining to this journalism student several reasons why Ridge would be a two-term governor — 1) Bad campaign strategy, 2) No money, 3) Going against a popular governor — she got a depressed look on her face and said, as the elevator door opened for me, “Oh no, that means four more years of Governor Tom Ridge.” I replied, as the doors began to close, “You’re saying that like it’s a bad thing.” As her jaw dropped and her look of horror turned into a look of disbelief, I gave her a parting wink.
I went two for two that night.
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