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Hickory Rep. Ballenger (NC) uses paint job on lawn jockey to whitewash racially charged comments
Hickory Daily Record (NC) ^ | Dec. 21, 2002 | MONTE MITCHELL and ANDREW MACKIE

Posted on 01/02/2003 8:23:38 AM PST by berserker

HICKORY - U.S. Rep. Cass Ballenger, anticipating fallout from a newspaper interview in which he said he had “segregationist feelings” after conflicts with a black colleague, decided to have his yard's black lawn jockey painted white Friday.

“It was painted with the knowledge that he was attacked in the past for it, and it was likely to come up again,” said Dan Gurley, Ballenger's chief of staff.

The 3 1/2-foot tall cast iron statue has been in Ballenger's family since the 1920s. It has stood on the Northwest Hickory property since the 1950s when Ballenger built a house there.

The lawn jockey issue comes up every election, Gurley said. Some leaders in Catawba County's black community have complained for years that the statue reminds them of an offensive history.

Ballenger was out of the office Friday and unavailable for comment, Gurley said.

Gurley provided a 1994 letter in which a longtime Ballenger friend explained that the stable jockey has sentimental meaning because it was one of the few items the family salvaged after the early death of Ballenger's father and the sale of the family home. It was placed beside the driveway as a reminder of the happier days of Ballenger's youth, his friend said.

The congressman calls the statue “Rochester,” after the black valet in the old Jack Benny show.

It has been painted various colors over the years. Gurley said he didn't know if the lawn jockey had ever been painted white before. No message is intended by the lawn jockey, he said, and it's simply an antique.

“Perhaps for those that can't get past that, it would be less offensive by painting it white,” Gurley said.

mmitchell@hickoryrecord.com |322-4510 x258


TOPICS: Government; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: congress; lawnjockey
Cass might have to rename it, now that its been whitewashed
1 posted on 01/02/2003 8:23:38 AM PST by berserker
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To: berserker
We have opened Pandora's Box by tossing Lott overboard.
2 posted on 01/02/2003 8:24:35 AM PST by AppyPappy
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To: AppyPappy
Last I looked, Lott wasn't overboard, but still serving in the US Senate.
3 posted on 01/02/2003 8:25:34 AM PST by Galtoid
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To: Galtoid
Yeah, we stuck by him. Just like we will with Cass.
4 posted on 01/02/2003 8:27:16 AM PST by AppyPappy
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To: berserker
Already posted two weeks ago: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/810935/posts
5 posted on 01/02/2003 8:27:33 AM PST by JohnnyZ
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To: AppyPappy
The democrats/media bent the pubs over on Lott and opened the door to non stop racism attacks from now til 04. Sadly the pubs are only too willing to bend over every time the dems make a charge.
6 posted on 01/02/2003 8:30:03 AM PST by cynicom
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To: AppyPappy
Excuse me, but how can anyone defend a Congressman who admits to having "segregationalist feelings" after a fight with a black colleage?

If Barbara Boxer, or Cynthia Kinney had said, after a fight with a Jewish colleage, that she had sympathies for Hitler or joked about a "final solution," FREEPERS would be all over them, and rightly so.
7 posted on 01/02/2003 8:30:15 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
"If Barbara Boxer, or Cynthia Kinney had said, after a fight with a Jewish colleage, that she had sympathies for Hitler or joked about a "final solution," FREEPERS would be all over them, and rightly so."

Yes, but would either the media OR the GOP??

8 posted on 01/02/2003 8:33:04 AM PST by F16Fighter
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
Maybe you should try reading what he actually said, the gist of which was that Cynthia McKinney should be segregated from humanity, on which point Rep. Mel Watt (D, Charlotte) basically backed him up, and posting your comments at the original thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/810935/posts


9 posted on 01/02/2003 8:40:58 AM PST by JohnnyZ
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To: JohnnyZ
Whoa, simmer down there, big bad John.

First off, at the time I clicked on reply, your post was there yet. So I didn't know there was a pre-existing thread.

Second, I still think the defense is weak.

That would be like Al Sharpton saying "When I said I wanted to throw people like Joe Lieberman into a concentration camp, I meant that he is an a$$hole and I think we should throw him in a concentration camp for a$$holes...no anti-Semitism intended."

We shouldn't excuse idiotic comments simply because someone with an "R" after their name makes it.

10 posted on 01/02/2003 8:49:16 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
Excuse me, but how can anyone defend a Congressman who admits to having "segregationalist feelings" after a fight with a black colleage?

In spite of all rancor, reason and remorse, segregation is the natural order of society and nothing short of force will change it; just look around you.

11 posted on 01/02/2003 9:01:33 AM PST by Old Professer
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
FREEPERS would be all over them

Yes and the Dems would stand by them and no one would get hurt.

12 posted on 01/02/2003 10:35:42 AM PST by AppyPappy
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Comment #13 Removed by Moderator

To: Behind Liberal Lines
His comment was not about black people in general; they were about Cynthia McKinney. Intense dislike of Cynthia McKinney does not a racist make.
14 posted on 01/02/2003 12:23:49 PM PST by alnick
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To: AppyPappy; TLBSHOW
When lawn jockeys are outlawed....
15 posted on 01/02/2003 12:26:47 PM PST by Fred Mertz
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To: Fred Mertz
lol
16 posted on 01/02/2003 12:29:23 PM PST by TLBSHOW
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To: alnick
Actually, the article was about the repainting of his lawn jockey "Rochester," and not about his odd comments. Or are they one and the same, in your view?
17 posted on 01/02/2003 1:35:12 PM PST by berserker
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To: berserker
If you would have read what I responded to, you would know what I was speaking of.
18 posted on 01/02/2003 3:46:28 PM PST by alnick
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