Posted on 04/06/2008 8:19:04 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
Reject racially tinged remarks about Cohen by other Fords
Harold Ford Sr. and Harold Ford Jr. on Saturday rejected racially charged remarks made last week by family members Jake and Isaac Ford.
Jake Ford, who is trying to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen in the Ninth Congressional District, filed Thursday to run again for the seat as an independent. In 2006, he ran and lost to Cohen.
In remarks published Friday in The Commercial Appeal, Jake Ford blasted Cohen, who is white, and said Tennessee deserves to have at least one black congressman.
Democrats Ford Sr. and Ford Jr., who held the congressional seat in succession for a combined 32 years before Ford Jr. relinquished it in 2006, called the CA on Saturday to make their positions clear after reading an article and editorial about the remarks. Jake, Isaac and Harold Ford Jr. are the sons of Harold Ford Sr.
Ford Jr. called his brother's remarks "an insult." Both men said Jake Ford should apologize publicly.
Jake Ford said Saturday the published comments were incomplete and not meant to be racially disparaging.
"As for my dad and my brother, they're not running for Congress. I am," he said.
While filing his qualifying paperwork Thursday, Jake Ford and brother Isaac rehashed a theme from the 2006 race -- that Cohen isn't fit to hold the seat because he's white.
"Jake Ford is a black candidate, it's a black district and we need black representation," Isaac Ford said.
Jake Ford said Saturday that some of the published comments may have been taken out of context.
"My brother and I were not saying we have to have a black representative in this district. We said in the state of Tennessee, the western district was created as a predominantly black district so we would have black representation in Congress," Jake Ford said.
"Everyone makes it seem like I'm creating the race issue."
On Saturday, Ford Sr. said that even if his sons' statements were taken out of context, "that type of message going out is not good for the city or the Ninth District."
"The article and editorial disturbed me. He certainly does not speak for me, and that's not representative of this family," Ford Sr. said.
Distancing himself from his brothers' remarks, Ford Jr. said, "It's beyond concern. I want to make clear my brothers' comments are not mine. I reject them. ... I don't believe any candidate's fitness for office should be measured or determined by race or gender."
Ford Jr. also said he had encouraged his brother not to run for the Ninth Congressional District seat. When asked why, he said, "A variety of reasons," but declined to elaborate.
"That's not true," Jake Ford said later.
Pamela Perkins: 529-6514
PING
He’s not trying to create a racial issue but he believes since his district is inhabited by black people that only a black person can represent them.
Odd perspective, that.
Watch it..
You’re talking about a young man who is panting after the VP spot with Obama...
LOL
What if HRC gets the nomination and chooses Harold, Jr. as VP? He is a smart guy, articulate, and clean.
It’s funny that we’ve sunken so low that we have to articulate seeking a “clean” candidate.
(Of course, they’re all really as DIRTY as a sewer!)
I am in the ninth district. No way will Cohen keep this district any length of time. He may win this election but probably by the next election a black will replace him. Its just the way it is.
I figure Herendon will run for this district after he leaves the Mayor’s job.
The only thing worse than the Ford family not knowing how stupid they sound is that they keep getting elected.
The Ford family candidate in the race is really Nikki Tinker. She barely lost last time and with a far-less contested field this time, she’ll probably knock off Cohen in the primary. I’d be surprised if Herenton would ever run for it, that would require too much effort on his part.
Herendon could win easily. Hes black and has name recognition.
Herenton (with a “T” not a “D”) has burned a lot of bridges. He manipulated and played up the fears of White voters in Memphis for years into supporting him against the Ford family and then turned and appealed to Blacks to save his sorry ass last year for an umpteenth term, and obtained a paltry 43% of the vote to win a narrow plurality over a White lady. If Herenton runs for Congress against Nikki Tinker and Cohen, Cohen will win renomination (he doesn’t have to win a majority, only a plurality, since there’s no runoff in TN). Right now, Herenton is looking to get out of the Mayor’s office into a guaranteed job without having to lift a finger. A Congressional race under the current circumstances would require work and would have little chance for him to win.
"This is about lives, real people," Ford said of the election. "We only have one district in the state of Tennessee where we can elect African-Americans. I would think for diversity purposes ... we would at least want to have one black in Congress representing the state."
...And once in office, Ford said, Cohen insulted African-Americans when he traced his ancestry back to East Africa.
"That's an insult to me," Ford said.
Cohen, in an interview in Washington on Thursday, said East Africa was the cradle of civilization and that everyone can trace their roots to Africa. "What I was trying to say to people at that program is that we are all ... human ... and we go back to a similar origin. ... Jake needs to subscribe to National Geographic."
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/apr/04/race-question-back-for-cohen/
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