Cohen's opponent shows what a good race-bait looks like

[Lunar]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/us/14memphis.html?_r=3&hpw

The black candidate, former Mayor Willie W. Herenton of Memphis, has argued that Tennessee needs a black voice in its currently all-white delegation. He is running a blistering campaign against Representative Steve Cohen, a fellow Democrat with a precarious hold on the majority black district.

“To know Steve Cohen is to know that he really does not think very much of African-Americans,” Mr. Herenton said in a recent radio interview on KWAM. “He’s played the black community well.”

But his unusual identity — as one of only two white members of Congress from majority black districts — makes him vulnerable politically. In the last election, his opponent ran a much-vilified advertisement that tried to link Mr. Cohen to the Ku Klux Klan. It juxtaposed Mr. Cohen with an image of a hooded Klansman and criticized him for voting not to rename a city park currently named for a Klan founder, Nathan Bedford Forrest.




“This seat was set aside for people who look like me,” said Mr. Herenton’s campaign manager, Sidney Chism, a black county commissioner. “It wasn’t set aside for a Jew or a Christian. It was set aside so that blacks could have representation.”

Mr. Cohen, 60, is a well-known Memphis liberal who considered joining the Congressional Black Caucus, wrote a national apology for slavery and the Jim Crow laws, and received an “A” rating from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

[Landslide Lyndon]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/us/14memphis.html?_r=3&hpw

The black candidate, former Mayor Willie W. Herenton of Memphis, has argued that Tennessee needs a black voice in its currently all-white delegation. He is running a blistering campaign against Representative Steve Cohen, a fellow Democrat with a precarious hold on the majority black district.

“To know Steve Cohen is to know that he really does not think very much of African-Americans,” Mr. Herenton said in a recent radio interview on KWAM. “He’s played the black community well.”

But his unusual identity — as one of only two white members of Congress from majority black districts — makes him vulnerable politically. In the last election, his opponent ran a much-vilified advertisement that tried to link Mr. Cohen to the Ku Klux Klan. It juxtaposed Mr. Cohen with an image of a hooded Klansman and criticized him for voting not to rename a city park currently named for a Klan founder, Nathan Bedford Forrest.




“This seat was set aside for people who look like me,” said Mr. Herenton’s campaign manager, Sidney Chism, a black county commissioner. “It wasn’t set aside for a Jew or a Christian. It was set aside so that blacks could have representation.”

Mr. Cohen, 60, is a well-known Memphis liberal who considered joining the Congressional Black Caucus, wrote a national apology for slavery and the Jim Crow laws, and received an “A” rating from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

I read a couple of months ago that his latest moves seemed a little ...shall we say erratic.
Now I see that was un understatement of epic proportions.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Hopefully Cohen wipes the floor with this guy.

[Lunar]

Mr. Herenton could not be reached for comment for this article, but he has lashed out at Mr. Cohen in local news interviews. He has referred to Mr. Cohen by a vulgar term to a newspaper reporter and has argued that Mr. Cohen is privately demeaning to blacks. Mr. Herenton claims that Mr. Cohen made personally derisive, racially insensitive remarks to him during a recent airplane flight — an accusation that Mr. Cohen denies.

“This Congressional race, you know what it’s going to be about?” Mr. Herenton said in a radio interview. “It’s going to be about race, representation and power.”

Black voters in the district are divided by this argument. The Rev. Ralph White, a black minister at the Bloomfield Full Gospel Baptist Church in Memphis, said congregants were still choosing their candidates.

“There are those who come up to me and say, ‘Even though I love Steve, this is a very important seat to the African-American community,’ ” Mr. White said. “It’s a very sticky, touchy situation.”

[Lunar]

[Ronnie]

Oh yeah, I heard that Michael Richards (along with the other Seinfeld crew) is coming on Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Will 'The Blacks' even want to talk to him after the racist Laugh Factory speech he made?

[Lunar]

hey man that pic is just a metaphor

[Verily]

Herenton is going to do even worse than Nikki Tinker.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Hopefully Cohen wipes the floor with this guy.

     Agreed. Willie Herenton is truly garbage, & shouldn't be elected dog catcher.

[Lief 🗽]

These constant racist primary challenges to Cohen are getting a little tiresome. Cohen is a great Democratic and he does a good job of representing all people of his district.

[Landslide Lyndon]

These constant racist primary challenges to Cohen are getting a little tiresome. Cohen is a great Democratic and he does a good job of representing all people of his district.

Hopefully if after Tinker, Herenton also gets demolished that will make any ambitious Memphis politicians to think twice before challenging Cohen.

[Lunar]

“This seat was set aside for people who look like me,” said Mr. Herenton’s campaign manager, Sidney Chism, a black county commissioner. “It wasn’t set aside for a Jew or a Christian. It was set aside so that blacks could have representation.”

let me add, since no one else has yet, that this district was indeed carved out to be majority African-American, but that was so African-Americans would have representation, which they currently have in Cohen, not so people who have darker skin pigmentation would have a permanent job.

[Verily]

I feel like I should know this... who is the other white congressman representing a majority-black district?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I feel like I should know this... who is the other white congressman representing a majority-black district?

He's not white (or even a Democrat), but Cao's district is 58% black.

[Brittain33]

I feel like I should know this... who is the other white congressman representing a majority-black district?

Robert Brady, PA-1.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I feel like I should know this... who is the other white congressman representing a majority-black district?

Robert Brady, PA-1.

Blacks make about about 48% of PA-1.

[Brittain33]

Blacks make about about 48% of PA-1.

It must have been majority black in the 1990s and perhaps even in 2002 when redistricting took place. I'm pretty sure Brady is the person the reporter had in mind, and I recall in the 1990s he was described in these terms. There's no one else whose district comes close. I would check NY-17, but I don't think so.

[Brittain33]

Blacks make about about 48% of PA-1.

It must have been majority black in the 1990s and perhaps even in 2002 when redistricting took place. I'm pretty sure Brady is the person the reporter had in mind, and I recall in the 1990s he was described in these terms. There's no one else whose district comes close. I would check NY-17, but I don't think so.

...or maybe it's been plurality black all this time and the reporter didn't draw a distinction. If anything, it looks to have lost white residents since 2000.

On Edit: The 2005-2007 ACS gives the percentage as 49.2%. It's actually quite possibly over 50% now, but unconfirmed by actual Census estimates. Again, not that I presume the reporter to have made this calculation.

One could make arguments for this or the Anh Cao mistake, I guess.

[Badger]

The Mayor's a slimebag. I fear he'll also win.

[Verily]

The Mayor's a slimebag. I fear he'll also win.

Not happening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Cohen#2008_Democratic_Primary

[Badger]

The Mayor's a slimebag. I fear he'll also win.

Not happening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Cohen#2008_Democratic_Primary

Somewhat reassuring, and I hope you're right. Still, while Tinker's resume made her a respectable candidate on paper (though her race-baiting campaign was disgraceful), Herenton obviously has a much higher profile.

[Padfoot]

“This seat was set aside for people who look like me,” said Mr. Herenton’s campaign manager, Sidney Chism, a black county commissioner. “It wasn’t set aside for a Jew or a Christian. It was set aside so that blacks could have representation.”

let me add, since no one else has yet, that this district was indeed carved out to be majority African-American, but that was so African-Americans would have representation, which they currently have in Cohen, not so people who have darker skin pigmentation would have a permanent job.

Exactly!  Minority districts created by the VRA are meant to protect voting rights.  Their purpose is to prevent the dilution of a minority's voting power via gerrymandering, thus ensuring said minority can elect a candidate of their choosing.  No where in the VRA does it mandate that the candidate they choose be of the same race or ethnicity.