Houston Mayor Bill White is under fire from the African American community in Houston this week after taking out an advertisement featuring a picture of himself between Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama in a local African American newspaper.
Isiah Carey’s Insight has more on the controversy:
I got a call from a City Hall Insider on Sunday who was upset about an advertisement that person saw in the Houston Defender. That person said Mayor Bill White’s Senatorial campaign had “the nerve” to put him in between Dr. Martin Luther King and President Barack Obama in the African American owned and operated weekly newspaper.
At minimum, the ad is insultingly pandering, given that it was placed in an African American owned newspaper. At worst it is something else entirely, since White’s campaign put the words “the dream” over King, “the change” over Obama, and “the hope” over White’s image.
I’m not sure how White had the nerve to do that. In spite of the halo White seems to have over his head thanks to the city of Houston’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Ike not so much), he has been at odds with Houston’s African American community more than once. Most recently, declined to appoint a violence commission or task force to examine a startling jump in homicides by young black men in Houston, two local ministers took White to task:
The Rev. Robert Jefferson, of the Houston Ministers Against Crime, said he was surprised by the mayor’s response.
“We need someone to study the problem. It’s getting worse. It’s unacceptable,” said Jefferson, the pastor of Cullen Missionary Baptist Church. “He helped the victims in Katrina, I guess, because it was a popular thing at the time, but we have victims on a daily basis. We’re a Katrina every day. Our boys are getting killed.”
[...]
Robert Gilmore called the mayor’s response “pretty insensitive.”
“He needs to make more of a commitment,” said Gilmore, founder of Real Urban Ministry Inc.
Add to that the fact that White never bothered to endorse Barack Obama (the only Democratic mayor of a major American city I’m aware of who didn’t) and you have an interesting story.
Too, Carey notes that “Friends of Bill White” paid for the ad. That is White’s municipal campaign account. We’ve previously noted that White is using that account to fund his Senate bid–in spite of the fact that it does not appear to be a “permissible” source of federal campaign funds.
January 28, 2009 at 7:19 pm
the tapes: “It sounds like a couple of organized crime figures out preparing to break some kneecaps. It’s just horrible. It’s nauseating. It’s sickening.” The Chicago Tribune posts the audio and transcripts.Bill White Under Fire Over Ad Putting Him Between King And Obama(by Vince Leibowitz at Capitol Annex) Houston Mayor Bill White is under fire from the African American community in Houston this week after taking out an advertisement featuring a picture of himself between Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Preside
January 26, 2009 at 3:50 pm
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January 31, 2009 at 10:34 pm
This whole uprising is bullshit. Just because he’s white means he can’t show his face between MLK and Obama?! That is racism in its purist form. Both MLK and Obama has had a “campaign” slogan of some sort. Bill White does, too. He’s allowed to express that along with them. And it’s not like Obama has actually ever done anything yet, anyway.
January 31, 2009 at 11:01 pm
The issue isn’t just racial. I wouldn’t like it if White put his face in an ad between Ghandi and Mother Teresa or Lyndon Johnson and Abe Lincoln.
The ad implies a level of “greatness” surrounding White that simply isn’t there. He’s done nothing substantial enough to allow him o be on the same plateau as Obama and has certainly done nothing to be able to compare himself to King. Substitute “Obama” and “King” for the other names I used above and you have the exact same situation. Being mayor during a hurricane doesn’t make you a civil rights leader. Anyone who thinks it does should probably go read a biography of Martin Luther King or Medgar Evers.
Also, the ad is insulting in that it implies that White is the next great “HOPE” for African Americans in Texas. Given his record in Houston, that is insulting to both African Americans and whites and everyone else because we can plainly see the level of controversy that has existed between White and the black community in Houston throughout his term as mayor.
January 31, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Every politician claims to be the next “something”. They all claim to be great. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a campaign. Even local shmucks sometimes put their face on an American flag and claim to be the next great leader in a small-town election. They’re not equal to Washington or Jefferson or Lincoln. And seriously, what greatness has Obama done yet? I’m from Chicago. Supposedly I’m supposed to worship him. Please tell me what miracle I should have witnessed.
September 28, 2009 at 5:16 pm
[...] fire over a controversial ad placing a photo of Houston Mayor and senate candidate Bill White between Barack O…, Jr., White’s campaign has blamed the newspaper for the debacle. The newspaper, however, contends [...]