New Orleans voters handed Rep. William J. Jefferson a landslide reelection victory over state Rep. Karen Carter.
Normally this would not be big news, congressional incumbents almost always win. But Jefferson was videotaped by the FBI taking $100,000 in alleged bribe money, and $90,000 of those marked bills were found inside a freezer in his D.C. apartment.
In my opening paragraph I noted that New Orleans voters gave Jefferson an overwhelming victory, but journalist integrity compels me to be more specific: African Americans gave Jefferson his big win.
From the Washington Post:
“Though both candidates in the runoff are African American, voters generally split along racial lines.
Jefferson won 57 percent of the vote to Carter’s 43 percent. He won 79 percent of votes in largely black precincts, while she won 76 percent of votes in largely white precincts, according to a post-election analysis by Greg Rigamer, a consultant for the Carter campaign.”
African Americans are very forgiving, of their own. Perhaps “forgiving” is not the right word, they turn a blind eye to the malfeaseance and outright criminal behavior of prominent African Americans.
Mike Tyson is not a rapist. Michael Jackson is not a child molester. OJ Simpson is not a murderer. And apparently, contrary to overwhelming evidence, Jefferson is not a crooked politician.
New Orleans has long been one of the most violent and corrupt American cities. It’s not Katrina that brought social disorder to this beautiful city, corruption has been tolerated in the Crescent City for ages.
New Orleans needs honest politicians, regardless of their race, to steer it in the right direction — away from graft and corruption. But the fine outstanding African American voters of New Orleans elected a politician who gives new meaning to the term: Cold hard cash.
People get the government they deserve, and New Orleans deserves a thoroughly corrupt person like Jefferson.
