Louisiana Follies

From the Daily Comet:

State Rep. Carla Dartez, D-Morgan City, said she is mulling withdrawal from the Nov. 17 runoff race after NAACP president Jerome Boykin says she referred to his mother as "Buckwheat."

The incident came out during Boykin's radio show on KBZE, FM 105.9.

During a telephone conversation with The Daily Comet, Dartez denies any racist meaning or intent. But Boykin said he sees the reference as a slur. Buckwheat is a reference to a black "Little Rascals" character.

After winning the runoff, Dartez called Boykin's mother to thank her for her volunteer work in driving voters to the polls and allegedly ended the conversation by saying, "Talk to you later, Buckwheat."

From the Times-Picayune:

Jefferson Parish administrators located a noose, a whipping post sign and other items hanging in a sewerage superintendent's office that were brought to light this week by a public works employee [Terrence Lee] who called them racially offensive and designed to intimidate black workers.
....

[Parish President Aaron] Broussard, hinted during a news conference that another explanation might surface for a wooden contraption from which hung a knotted, looped rope.

"There are going to be some facts revealed about these objects that, when you get more information about them, will help explain what is now a question mark," he said when asked whether a rope tied in the shape of a noose would ever be deemed acceptable by the parish's antiharassment policy. "But I will leave it at that until all the interviews are complete."

Earlier Thursday, [chief aide to Brousssard, Tim] Whitmer described a portion of the object outside the frame of photos taken by Lee in 2005 and shown to reporters this week. Whitmer called it a "butt-kicking machine" that propels a boot upward and outward when someone pulls the rope.
....

He also confirmed finding a sign saying, "BILL'S WHIPPING POST." A dart board that Lee said had an image of a black man pinned in his groin instead bore the image of a white man when found by administrators Wednesday, Whitmer said.

Ernest Johnson, president of the Louisiana NAACP stated that the incident is disturbing, especially coming so soon after the Jena 6 case and the protests in Jena, Louisiana and the discovery of a noose hanging in a hardware store in Ruston, Louisiana.

I remind you of the story of the local policeman, who had a small noose hanging from the mirror of his pickup truck, which was parked in the police parking lot.

I believe Carla Dartez when she says that she meant no racial slur. She was thanking Ms. Boykin for her help. But calling her "Buckwheat"? Words have consequences, as Dartez found out.

As for the other incidents, I attribute no such innocence to them.

UPDATE: Allie at The Conformist Rebel writes of a hunger strike by students at Columbia University with mention of a noose in the story. Racism is not dead in this country, nor is it confined to Louisiana.