Let's Talk Straight About Race

Mrs. Dole,
I, for one, applaud your recent remarks concerning Frederick C. Branch, the first African American to be commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps. But, I cannot help but feel that this is a thinly-veiled attempt to court African-American voters, for which the Republican party has done nil. In particular, I feel you have a special duty to work for African-Americans, given the former Dixiecrat and segregationist Senator that you replaced. Senator Jesse Helms, rest his soul, had a long history of racist ideals and acts in Congress, which I believe culminated in his attack on Senator Mosely-Braun in a Capitol elevator. Senator Helms is alleged to have told your peer Sen. Orrin Hatch "Watch me make her cry. I'm going to make her cry. I'm going to sing 'Dixie' until she cries." (Gannett News Service, 9/2/93; Time, 8/16/93). Let us not forget that Senator Helms lead a one-man filibuster against Martin Luther King Day, participated along with Bob Dole in a battle to support Apartheid in South Africa, and was the leading voice against the Voting Rights Act.

Because of positions like these and more, I felt that when you took office you would strive to bring a calming to racial relations. But, in fact, North Carolina's African-American population is in greater trouble than ever before. Among the nation, poverty among African-Americans sits at 24%, while poverty among whites is at 10.5%. North Carolina was one of only seven states to increase the numbers of those in poverty in 2003. Yet, you have shown time and again that your morals are in line with the CorporaCons that control the Republican party and not with your Constituency here in North Carolina. You offer words when people demand actions. The only actions you take are to secure tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of education breaks for our children. The only actions you take support corporate welfare instead of child welfare. And, the only actions you take are to speak kind words of one African-American man while thousands of his peers go to bed hungry each night in this state.