September 28, 2005

African-American Rep. wants to join Tennessee's White Caucus

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A black Tennessee lawmaker lamenting his exclusion from the state's White Legislative Caucus claimed Tuesday the group was less accommodating that even the Nation of Islam.

"My understanding is that the NoI doesn't even ban members by race," said Rep. Stacey Campfield, adding that the NoI "has less racist bylaws" than the white lawmakers' group.

The freshman Democrat from Knoxville was rebuffed earlier this year when he asked for the White Caucus' bylaws and inquired about joining. There are 18 white state lawmakers in Tennessee.

Caucus chairman Rep. Johnny Shaw, a Republican, dismissed Campfield's request and called him a "strange guy" who was simply interested in stirring up trouble.

"He is using this as a joke. This is an insult coming from him," said caucus member Rep. Larry Miller, also a Republican. "Why he chose to focus on the White Caucus, I have no idea other than he is crazy and a racist."

If you've heard of this story, you'll notice that I switched things around above. Rep. Stacey Campfield is actually white, and he inquired about the bylaws of TN's Black Caucus. That prompted the expected "liberal" reaction.

For instance, the WaPo prints the above modified AP article by Matt Gouras under "White Lawmaker Likens Black Colleagues, KKK". And, Gouras turned to a usual suspect to provide more smears:

Experts on race and hate groups said Campfield hit a nerve when he used King's words to take on a black institution. It's the same tactic white separatists often use, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"Very typically these days we see white supremacists, hate groups, trying to use the words of King and other civil rights leaders to try to advance their agendas," Potok said.

Question "liberal" racism, get called a racist. Not only that, but on his blog he says he's received threats of violence. Ah, the peace-loving, non-racist left.

Let's take a look at an earlier AP report, here under "White lawmaker 'just curious' about joining Black Caucus":

...As he was talking to [Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Johnny Shaw] about these questions, the possibility of Campfield joining the Black Caucus came up.

By Campfield's account, Shaw was against it.

"I said, 'Why?' and he said, 'Because you're white.' I thought, 'What? Whoa!' " Campfield said...

...Shaw said he thought Campfield had brought up the possibility of membership in the Black Caucus in "a kidding sort of way."

"He's an oddball, and I didn't take him seriously," Shaw said. "I felt like he was trying to do something that was, well, not good."

"We don't have anything going on in the Black Caucus that anyone wants to hide. There's nothing out of the ordinary in the bylaws," Shaw said. "We are strictly legit and up front."

The bylaws [provided to the reporter but not to Campfield] say, "The regular membership shall consist of those black elected officials serving in the state Senate and House of Representatives."

Another provision says that "honorary membership" can be granted to "those persons whose belief and actions contribute to the purpose for which this caucus was formed."

"We still want to make sure the black community gets the representation it needs," Shaw said. "But it's not just the black community. We represent people as a whole. When you start dividing people up into race, if you're not careful you can get yourself into a lot of trouble."

Perhaps Gouras should have read - and referenced - the earlier AP report containing that zinger. And, needless to say, if I switched things around in that article it would sound like something from the 50s or before.

Posted to MultiCultiCult at September 28, 2005 11:50 AM

Comments

We´ve "progressed" from Jim Crow to Crow Jim. The double standards are obvious to everyone but they dare not be discussed.

Posted by: perroazul del norte at September 28, 2005 05:16 PM