Tuesday, August 20, 2002

Kingfishery and Kingcakery - State Sen. Lynn Dean, R-Caernarvon, in a moment of candor, publicly admits what everyone familiar with life "down the road in the Parish" knows all too well: racism "in the Parish" is the rule of thumb. Dean claims that "recreational" use of the "n" word is just fine and dandy. He boasts that he voted for David Duke, the Klansman, in the 1991 Governor's race, as the "lesser of two evils" - the other "worse" evil being Edwin Edwards (a crooked politician in the Huey Long mold, but one admired by a very high percentage of the black people of the state). But, incredulously, he still believes that the black folk in "the Parish" and their interests are adequately represented by their all-white leadership. While Dean's racist attitudes are not all that surprising, his public utterance of them is. But I wonder whether this seasoned politician didn't know exactly what he was doing. I think I know enough about Dean's turf to say that for every person in "the Parish" who is bothered by his comments, there are 10 who are nodding their heads in agreement. The sad reality is that, with his racist "coming out," he's almost definitely secured his position in the State Senate as representative of this particular district for as long as he lives. I fondly jest about the state of Louisiana politics, but things like this really do drive home the unfunny side of Louisiana's perverted politics; and they sincerely dishearten and sadden me.

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