Holding the line on destructive racial and religious politics in Memphis
(Updated 1 p.m.)
Ugly, ugly, ugly though it is — this story about race, religion, and politics offers some redemption.
There is a primary election today for Democratic nomination in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, a Memphis district (formerly represented by Harold Ford, Jr.) a majority of whose voters are black but that is represented by Steve Cohen, a white Jewish man who has represented the district since 2007 and who served 24 years in the state Senate before that, and has a long history of community service and accomplishment.
He is opposed in the primary by Nikki Tinker, an African American woman who is a labor lawyer for an airline.
Tinker has appealed directly to the African American community to support her candidacy.
Nothing wrong with that.
But she ran a television ad that falsely suggests her opponent is sympathetic to white supremacists. She was slow to condemn the blatantly anti-semitic flier (shown here) that was circulated in behalf of her candidacy. And more recently she ran an ad (posted on YouTube and then removed) described by the Nashville Post political blog thus:
In the ad, a child’s voice is heard praying while the narrator, clearly meant to be a black woman but not Tinker, wonders who “the real Steve Cohen is anyway” while questioning one of Cohen votes on school prayer while in the state Senate.
While he’s is OUR churches clapping his hands and tapping his feet, he was the only Senator who thought OUR kids shouldn’t be allowed to pray in school.
The good news in all this is that, across racial lines, there has been an impressive response from leaders in community who have stood up strong and been outspoken against these tactics.
So, we will see what happens today at the polls.
Updated: Politico has video of the second Tinker ad, and reports that Barack Obama has issued the following statement:
“These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics, and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee. It’s time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country.”
Eddie Roth writes about education, social justice, public safety, transportation, legal affairs and historic preservation. He joined the Post-Dispatch editorial page in 2008 after six years as an editorial writer with the Dayton Daily News. But he is not new to St. Louis. Eddie grew up in Webster Groves and south St. Louis County. He's a lawyer who for many years practiced with a downtown firm, and was active in civic affairs, including serving a term on the St. Louis Police Board. He and his wife, Jeanne, and their three daughters, Emily, Julia and Alice, live in the Shaw Neighborhood.
When it comes to community organizing, he endorses Quentin Crisp's advice: Rather than keeping up with the Joneses, it's better to pull them down to your level. 
Pierre JC,
You are correct, but I was speaking of this day and age, but then again you are still correct. I don’t understand why I am always shocked by such behavior, I should know better.
Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum,
You do not get it, nor does it appear that you evr will, but I do hope that one day you will because you are far from having a clean heart. You remind me of those when Jesus was on the earth during His ministry, those who considered Him a wicked demon possessed hypocrite wacko.
I hope that in the year 3000 human beings will cease to choose leadership based on a candidates devotion to a particular set of fictional characters. Stop hedging your bets against a fear of going to hell people.
Amen, Nick Kasoff! The true shame of America’s “race” problem is the blatantly racist double standard that blacks adhere to….and whites let slide with tacit approval.
The flier is this article is EXACTLY WHY STATE CAN NOT SUPPORT RELIGION.
You dammed extremist christian are no better than a Islamic Jihadist.
If that flyer from Nikki Tinker and Reverend George Brooks is real ( and heaven knows, I hope it isn’t) , then Brooks and his group are the worst bunch of racists and haters I have encountered since I went to a GOP convention by mistake. This sort of hatred and prejudice has no place in America! I expect this sort of rabble rousing hate speech from Republicans, but not black Americans. Does Tinker have any idea how many Jews supported the Civil Rights Movement and how many harbored slaves during the days of the Underground Railroad? This just confirms that bigots and racists come in all colors.
Wow. She deserves to lose, and if (for some crazy reason) she wins the primary, someone ought to challenge her as an independent.
Gosh, people like this enrage me.
EVERYWHERE we go we run into IDIOTS, like this live one from Tennessee!
*SIGH*
John,
I am certain that extreme Christians and extreme Muslims are inappropriate terms for Islamic Jihadist or any religious sect that follow evil ways.
An extreme Christian would one to be extremely Christ like, all good.
An extreme Muslim most certainly would be extremely just in their behaviors and responses to most things. Even in terms of an eye for an eye.
Maybe you should learn what being a Christian and Muslim are according to their books.
This is a prime example or organized religion poisoning society. A person’s belief in whatever fairy-tale should never even brought up since 1) no one can prove the superiority of one imaginary friend over another and 2) none of this crap even mentions issues that matter on any level. If any religion were really almighty, then we wouldn’t need government in the first place.
Please smart people, start running for local offices.