Is Dickerson Another Victim Of Democratic Racism Against Black Republicans?

An idea that became etched in my mind back in the early 1990s has been re-affirmed by recent political events here in Indianapolis in the Carson-Dickerson congressional race and in other states where African-American candidates are running for public office as Republicans: Democrats practice racism against black Republicans. Although African-Americans were traditionally Republicans because it was the party which freed the slaves, fought for the enactment of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, integrated the armed services and supported the enactment of the first federal civil rights act, most blacks and Democrats today expect blacks to be Democrats. And if they are not, they are scorned, ridiculed and worse.

The defining moment for me on this point was the nomination of Clarence Thomas by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 to the Supreme Court and the ensuing efforts of Democrats to derail Thomas at all cost. Liberals made it clear from the outset of his nomination that they would “bork” him just like they did to Reagan’s controversial Supreme Court nominee, Judge Robert Bork. Unlike Bork, Thomas didn’t have a long paper trail to dissect, and when it became apparent that Thomas would win the support of enough moderate Democrats to win nomination, the Democrats resorted to the worst of smear campaigns to destroy Thomas.

Democrats would rely on a years’ old sexual harassment claim of Anita Hill, a former employee who worked under Thomas at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in their smear effort. Ignoring the fact that Thomas’ accuser was herself an EEOC lawyer who hadn’t bothered to follow any of the legal procedures over which she was supposed to be an expert to assert her claim in a timely manner, and that the only witness who could be produced to support Hill’s claim was a woman Thomas had fired because she called a fellow EEOC employee a “faggot” because he was gay, Democrats nonetheless pushed a claim which could never be legally proven as grounds for defeating his nomination. Thomas’ angry reaction to the Democrats’ witch hunt was understandable. He accurately described the effort against him to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

. . . as far as I'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the US Senate rather than hung from a tree . . .

Despite their best efforts to stop him, Thomas narrowly escaped defeat and was seated on the Supreme Court. For others it wasn’t over. In my home state of Illinois, a respected moderate Democrat, Senator Alan Dixon, was visited upon in the worst way for daring to support an African-American to the Supreme Court who did not “kowtow” to the “older order” of the ideal African-American. He lost in the Democratic primary to a State Representative Carol Mosely-Braun, an African-American Chicago legislator, who I knew from working at the Illinois House of Representatives as being both corrupt and dishonest. Dixon’s vote in support of Thomas’ nomination was attributed to his unexpected primary loss to Braun. Illinois voters figured this out and voted her out after her first term.

While candidates of both parties are known to sling mud at one another, it seems some of the worst is reserved for use against black Republican candidates. It’s happened in many past elections, and it is happening again this election year. In Maryland, Democrats are unleashing a ferocious attack against Lt Gov. Mike Steele, a black Republican who is seeking the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D). Black Democratic leaders there claim the use of “racially tinged attacks” on Steele are justified because he is a “conservative Republican.” The Washington-Times reports:

Such attacks against the first black man to win a statewide election in Maryland include pelting him with Oreo cookies during a campaign appearance, calling him an "Uncle Tom" and depicting him as a black-faced minstrel on a liberal Web log.

Operatives for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) also obtained a copy of his credit report -- the only Republican candidate so targeted.

But black Democrats say there is nothing wrong with "pointing out the obvious" . . .

This week, the News Blog -- a liberal Web log run by Steve Gilliard, a black New Yorker -- removed a doctored photo of Mr. Steele that depicted him as a black-faced minstrel.

However, the blog has kept its headline "Simple Sambo wants to move to the big house." A caption beneath a photo of the lieutenant governor reads: "I's Simple Sambo and I's running for the Big House" . . .

In neighboring Ohio, Democrats have been relentless in their personal attacks against Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican candidate for Governor in that state. They created a fake MySpace site for Blackwell which includes numerous racially tinged comments. The site says, “My nephews call me Tom.” “Help a brother out. I have court dues.” In reference to “Who [Ken] would like to meet”, the site reads: “Ohio voters and in particular the white female ones. Ted Strickland's belt buckle.” A picture of Blackwell with former First Lady Barbara Bush is captioned: “How’d she taste?” His favorite TV show is listed as “Amos & Andy.” His favorite book, not surprisingly, is listed as “Uncle Tom.”

And then there’s Indianapolis where Rep. Julia Carson (D) reserves her most ferocious attacks for her African-American Republican opponents. The respected Butler University professor Marvin Scott saw years’ old sexual harassment allegations ala Clarence Thomas dug up by Carson supporters late in the campaign to smear him. And this year, we have seen negative allegations raised directly by Rep. Carson about Eric Dickerson’s personal finances and a 15-year-old unproven charge that he beat his wife. The facts and circumstances indicate that Carson and her supporters will do just about anything to destroy Mr. Dickerson in her quest to make him the 6th opponent she has vanquished to win the right to continue representing the people of Indianapolis in Washington.

At this point, it is worth taking a look at what happened earlier this year in Mike Steele’s Senate campaign and comparing it to Carson’s campaign to smear Dickerson. A Democratic Senate Campaign Committee worker pleaded guilty to misrepresenting herself as Steele by using his social security number to obtain his personal credit report. As reported by the Washington Post:

The episode took place in July as both parties started investigating the backgrounds of candidates in Maryland's marquee races this year.

According to the prosecutor's statement, which Weiner said was accurate, she used Steele's Social Security number to access his credit report on a Web site designed to let people view their reports.

Weiner pretended that she was Steele, even creating an e-mail address -- gopsteele@yahoo.com -- needed to obtain the report, the statement said. She also agreed to the "terms of service" on the site, which included a warning "not to impersonate another person."

Observant AI readers will recall that when Carson operatives nefariously obtained the 15-year-old police report on Dickerson hidden away in files from public view from local law enforcement authorities, in their zeal to smear Dickerson, the report was posted up on the Internet via Taking Down Words site without bothering to redact the social security numbers of Dickerson and his wife from the report. Horrified that this information had been posted on the worldwide net for consumption, Dickerson was first alarmed that he and his wife might become the next victims of identity theft. He immediately contacted the local social security office, but he was advised that neither he nor his wife could change their social security numbers to protect themselves from identity theft; instead, he was advised to notify at least the three major credit reporting agencies to put them on alert.

Regular AI readers will also be quite familiar with the daily musings of one of Rep. Carson’s most loyal political supporters and former Center Township Trustee clerk, Wilson Allen. For months now, Allen, in daily comments on this site and elsewhere, has dropped numerous items of a personal nature concerning Dickerson for public consumption. They’ve centered on a variety of topics, including other businesses, homes and property Dickerson allegedly owned besides his Buick dealership. Wilson often reminded Dickerson supporters of their candidate’s admonishment to “be nice” and not “beat up” on your opponent in the months prior to last week’s disclosure of the Dickerson police report. The Indianapolis Star confirmed it obtained the 15-year-old police report from a Carson volunteer. When Dickerson appeared on Abdul In The Morning to explain the 15-year-old incident a day after Carson told the Star’s editorial board that he “beat his wife to a pulp”, Wilson quickly posted this quip a full two hours before Taking Down Words posted the police report furnished by the Carson campaign volunteer:

BUT, Things are seldom what they seem, Skim milk masquerades as cream; ighlows
pass as patent leathers; Jackdaws strut in peacock's feathers. BUT. Black sheep dwell in every fold; All that glitters is not gold; Storks turn out to be but logs; Bulls are but inflated frogs.BUT, Drops the wind and stops the mill; Turbot is ambitious brill; Gild the farthing if you will, Yet it is a farthing still.

Is it not fair to ask if Ms. Carson’s campaign, which appears to have had possession of the Dickerson police report for months, with both Dickerson and his wife’s social security numbers on it, did what the Democratic staffer did in Steele's Maryland Senate race and use that information to obtain the Dickerson’s credit reports? I raised this issue with Mr. Dickerson in a telephone conversation I had with him earlier this week. Before the police report surfaced on the Internet with he and his wife’s social security number, he admitted to being taken aback by information bantered about concerning him on the Internet by Allen and other anonymous bloggers over the past several months, who claimed to have knowledge of his personal and business affairs. With the knowledge that these folks had his social security number for months, his suspicions have been raised as well. Given what happened in Maryland just a few months earlier, AI thinks U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks would be well-advised to investigate whether the Carson campaign, or someone acting on their behalf, illegally used the Dickersons’ social security number to obtain his confidential credit history.

Ms. Carson's racist campaign against Dickerson, like all the other racist campaigns mounted by Democrats across the country against black Republicans, must be called out for what it is. While the media is quick to jump on allegations that a white candidate, such as Senator George Allen (R-VA), is a racist because of statements he allegedly made decades ago as a college student, the current racist actions of Democrats against black Republicans is largely ignored. Rep. Carson is the first to scream racism whenever anyone attempts to criticize her. Well, turnabout is fair play Rep. Carson. Your campaign against Eric Dickerson is racist. And you should be ashamed.