On Saturday, State Representative Carla Blanchard Dartez (D-La.) lost her re-election bid to Republican challenger Joe Harrison in a heated and controversial run-off. Yet the largest newspaper in Louisiana, The Times-Picayune (TP), chose to bury it as an afterthought in its coverage of the statewide election results. The Times-Picayune online edition, NOLA.com, placed this paragraph at the end of its story.
The only two incumbent lawmakers to lose in either chamber were Democrats. Chris Hazel dispatched Rep. Rick Farrar of Pineville in the 27th District primary. Challenger Joe Harrison topped Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez of Morgan City to claim the 51st District seat in the runoff.
The TP made no mention of the 'Buckwheat' racial slur or the other controversies which surrounded this incumbent Democrat. Why is that?
Fellow NewsBuster Richard Newcomb first reported this story and told of the failure of major news outlets to mention that Dartez was a Democrat.
Last week, State Representative Carla Blanchard Dartez (D-La.) made a particularly controversial closing comment to a former civil rights worker. Dartez, in ending a phone call with Hazel Boykin, said "Talk to you later, Buckwheat." Hazel Boykin is the mother of Jerome Boykin, president of the Terrebonne Parish NAACP chapter.
Mrs. Boykin and her son were offended by the racial slur and her son called for the defeat of Dartez in the upcoming run-off election. Despite support from local black clergy and other Democrats, Boykin's demands to remove Dartez from office appealed to voters and she was defeated.
The media loves a story about racial controversy, particularly in southern states. For example, the "Jena 6" case, built around a simple assault charge in a small town - in Louisiana no less - was considered newsworthy. So why was there no media coverage of this political defeat, mostly due to the racial slur controversy, other than this brief piece on the USAToday blog? Where was the leading story in the MSM?
Could the MSM have a double standard for people caught in these situations? Just ask Don Imus or Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.).
Crossposted on Conservative Belle.
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Times Picayne
November 20, 2007 - 13:50 ET by Lame CherryMy only wonder in this story is Robert Shearer the resident hurricane phobic psychopath on the Huffington Post if he even noted the racial slurs of a Democrat.
In dealing with Shearer there, he drew the Times Picayne like it was the only newspaper in the world quoting it AS A WEAPON AGAINST GEORGE BUSH'S NEW ORLEANS POLICY.
Of course, it was always the poor suffering blacks........but here one of Shearer's own racists like that bigot racist is calling people buckwheat...........and as I will point out Shearer will be silent on this in his phobic postings.
As usual Democrats can use racial terms in public like they do in private as they are above the fray.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
Racial Slur Cited in
November 20, 2007 - 16:14 ET by motherbeltRacial Slur Cited in Republican's Defeat
Any doubt that would have been the headline had the shoe been on the other foot?
No doubt at all
November 20, 2007 - 17:49 ET by Vivian LeeWe would have heard about it for well over a week on every cable network and in every major newspaper, if there had been an R behind Dartez's name.
I sure read it there...
November 20, 2007 - 20:11 ET by LibraryLadyDartez sparks outrage over 'Buckwheat' remark
HOUMA, La. (AP) — A state representative in a runoff election infuriated civil rights leaders after she ended a conversation with the mother of the NAACP's local president by saying, "Talk to you later, Buckwheat."
State Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez, D-Morgan City, acknowledged she made the remark during a Thursday night telephone conversation with Hazel Boykin to thank her for driving voters to the polls.
Hazel Boykin's son, Jerome, is the NAACP's president in Terrebonne Parish. She is well-known as a 1960s civil rights activist, helping to desegregate restaurants and the parish school system.
"I've never had no one talk to me that way and I considered it a racial slur," said Hazel Boykin. "I know the meaning of it, it's just like the N word."
The 75-year-old retiree said even when she was active in the civil rights movement in the racially charged atmosphere of the 1960s "I never got that kind of response."
On Monday, Jerome Boykin held a news conference to ask voters to cast ballots against Dartez, who faces Republican Joe Harrison in Saturday's runoff.
"The NAACP is going to do all it can to see that she is not re-elected," he said.
"At this point, the NAACP is not concerned about the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. If a Republican is elected because of her racist remarks, that's her responsibility."
Dartez did not immediately return a call Monday.
"I made an insensitive comment, and I regret my choice of words," Dartez said in a statement reported by The (Houma) Courier newspaper. "I have apologized to both Hazel and Jerome Boykin. The Boykin family has been a huge help in my campaign for re-election, and I did not mean to offend them."
But Hazel Boykin disagreed and said Dartez still has not personally apologized to her.
Dartez has represented parts of Terrebonne, St. Mary and Assumption parishes since 1999. She has said she does not intend to drop out of the race.
Her remark is the latest bit of trouble for her and her husband, Lenny Dartez, who is a member of the Democratic Party's State Central Committee.
Before qualifying in September, Carla Dartez was given a summons for improper lane usage after hitting a pedestrian with her vehicle. She failed a field sobriety test but passed a later Breathalyzer test.
Earlier this month, Lenny Dartez was indicted for allegedly harboring illegal aliens through his construction business.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-35/1194915244253500.xml&storylist=louisiana
Nola Times Picayune
Wrong Story
November 21, 2007 - 10:44 ET by Vivian LeeLibraryLady,
The TP failed to mention the fact that Dartez lost and the 'Buckwheat' remark in the same story. They buried her loss at the end of the article, post-election.
The point of my post is the double standard when others make racial slurs. The media was all over the story when Senator Trent Lott stepped down as majority leader. The media was all over the story when Don Imus was fired.
But Louisiana's largest circulated newspaper doesn't even mention the loss is due to the scandals of Dartez (a Democrat) or her insulting remark. And not a word mentioned in the MSM.
The double standard is obvious.
To compare the Imus/Lott
November 21, 2007 - 11:06 ET by LibraryLadyTo compare the Imus/Lott stories to Carla Dartez is ludicrous. She was a do-nothing State Rep that few people here in Louisiana had even heard of.
I am not defending her; I am a Republican and delighted that she lost and we picked up the seat. I just think you underestimate how well the story was covered in Louisiana.
(yes, I know better than to end a sentence with a preposition.)
No underestimation
November 21, 2007 - 11:35 ET by Vivian LeeI wasn't disregarding the coverage by WDSU or other newspapers like Houma Today. But Louisiana's largest newspaper failed to publish the story together. They wanted to bury it. You are missing the point.
You say Dartez was a do-nothing state rep, but she had been elected more than once to that seat and the Terrebonne Parish NAACP chapter was HELPING her, until she made that stupid remark. She would have been elected again, were it not for that slur. That is worthy of news coverage.
The comparison is valid. It is an example of how MSM picks up stories to exploit racism such as the post-Katrina response in New Orleans, Jena 6, hanging nooses, and David Duke. But only when it suits their liberal agenda.
The real story is that after racist remarks like that were made, a Democrat lost and there was very little media coverage to expose the reasons. If the woman had been a Republican, the media would have been all over it (like Lott) in order to make the GOP appear to be the racist party. Meanwhile, former clansmen like Robert Byrd continue to be elected in the Democrat column.
There were plenty of similarities with Lott and Dartez. She apologized. He apologized. She had supporters saying she wasn't racist. He had them too. The local NAACP demanded she step down. Same with Lott. You can't just dismiss the media bias because of name recognition.
Are you telling me that the TP has no liberal bias?