NAACP official wants Campfield out

NASHVILLE - An NAACP official on Friday urged Tennessee Republicans to censure Knoxville's state Rep. Stacey Campfield and demand his resignation as a lawmaker because he compared the Legislature's Black Caucus to the Ku Klux Klan.

Campfield, a white Republican legislator who has found himself a subject of national attention after being told he cannot join the Black Caucus, said his remarks have been misinterpreted and that he sees no reason to resign.

The latest round began with a letter sent to state Republican Chairman Bob Davis by Nashville NAACP President Arnett H. Bodenhamer, declaring that his organization is "incensed" that Campfield "made comments comparing the Legislative Black Caucus to the Ku Klux Klan."

"Given the Tennessee Republican Party's mission of equality and tolerance, I am sure you are equally disturbed by Rep. Campfield's position," Bodenhamer wrote.

"With this in mind, I am writing to request that you and your Executive Committee immediately convene a special meeting to censure Rep. Campfield and demand his resignation from the General Assembly."

When initially contacted about the letter, Davis said he had not seen it but indicated surprise because an NAACP representative had met with him a day earlier about the party's participation in "a gala about the Voting Rights Act" and "didn't say a word" about the Campfield issue.

Later in the day, Davis provided the media with a copy of his five-sentence reply letter to Bodenhamer but offered no further comment.

"The Tennessee Republican Party does not endorse racism or racist comments in any form or fashion," the letter states. "Our party was founded by President Abraham Lincoln who taught us that prejudice and bigotry have no place in our nation.

"I have been informed that Rep. Campfield has apologized for any misunderstanding and I trust that he will uphold our party's beliefs."

Chris Devaney, executive director of the state GOP, said he did not want to comment beyond the letter but indicated there are no plans to call for a special meeting of the state GOP Executive Committee to seek a censure or Campfield's resignation.

"We're going to take the man at his word and leave it at that," said Devaney. "I think if the man apologized over a misunderstanding, there is no need for a special meeting."

Campfield issued a statement late Friday declaring that "comments I have made in recent days have unfortunately been misunderstood, and for that misunderstanding, I apologize."

In an interview prior to the statement and before he had conferred with party officials, Campfield said he was "not intending in any way, shape, form or fashion to compare the Black Caucus to the KKK."

"The Black Caucus has done nothing even close to the terrible atrocities that the KKK has done the lynchings and cross burnings and things like that," he said.

Instead, he said the bylaws of the Black Caucus - not the organization itself - are comparable to the Ku Klux Klan because they limit membership to a single race. A copy of Black Caucus bylaws provided to a reporter state that membership is for black legislators.

"I was talking to their bylaws being racist, not that they as a group are racist," Campfield said. "I still think the bylaws are racist, and I stand by that statement.

"I could not join because I am white," he said. "I think that is the definition of racist when you define someone by the color of their skin rather than their character."

Campfield said he found Bodenhamer's letter to Davis ironic because the NAACP "supports inclusion and toleration" and allows whites to become members.

"If they think I should resign because I'm trying to be inclusive and help minorities, I just find that ludicrous," he said. "They're trying to stop me from helping minorities.

"I do not plan on resigning. I think, if anything, we need to push forward and break down the walls of separation that divide us," he said.

Blacks, because they could not accept this as genuine. They just thought there had to be something racist about this guy's proposal, that they had to fight it on those grounds. They had no idea what it was, but they were scared because the guy was proposing an organization that stood for equality for all, no matter your skin color. The blacks were afraid they would lose whatever advantages and/or affirmative actions they had won over the past few years, and therefore they had to fight it. They could not accept an organization that treated everyone equally.

I love this guy! If you follow Tennessee politics you know that Stacey Campfield is the most refreshing, best thing to happen to TN politics in a long time. He's a young guy and very inexperienced in politics but with his blog he wields a disproportionate power, even as a fly-on-the-wall. He tells it like it is-- and exposes the corrupt inside dealings behind the headlines and soft-pedal stories of the MSM. I don't know if he'll last long but as long as he's around the insider bull**** that routinely happens behind the scenes is not safe from taxpayer eyes. In the wake of the ongoing "Tennessee Waltz" scandals we need to see a lot more sunshine to get rid of corrupt TN politicians, especially the Lt Governor and the house speaker.

You can read about it on his blog. The stories about Jimmy Naifeh (Dem Speaker of the House) are infuriating, but not surprising. He is a scoundrel. And Naifeh (pronounced nayfee) has a wife that's one of the state's highest paid lobbyists, making probably high six figures (nobody knows but it's way up there) and his driver, yes, driver makes 92,000 dollars a year, as is revealed in the blog.

And you can read his blow-by-blow account of his dealings with the NAA(L)CP-- really funny how they tried to hide the fact they don't allow white people in, without saying so:

>>Back in the spring, I had asked the leader of the black caucus, Johnny
Shaw, for a copy of the bylaws. Johnny said he wanted to see a copy of
the Republican Caucus bylaws first. I agreed and had a copy sent to
him in less than 10 minutes.

When my assistant returned from dropping them off, she notified me that
Shaw did not want to give me a copy of the bylaws. I called Johnny
Shaw back and he said unless I had a court order or attorney general's
opinion, he was not going to give me anything.

I later asked him again for a copy and was again rebuffed. I asked why
I couldn't have a copy and asked what he didn't want me to see. Johnny
said he didn't have to give me anything and asked why I wanted the
copy. “Do you want to be a member?” he said.

I said “I don't know. Are you asking me to join?” Johnny said “No!
You can't be a member.”

I asked “why?” He answered “because you are white.”

See it here:

http://lastcar.blogspot.com/

If you follow the NRA and gun control issues with interest you must see his post from Wednesday April 27, 2005; about 3/4 of the way down the page (and some follow-on posts).

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