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Associated Press - November 12, 2007 7:23 PM ET http://www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=7349866&nav=0zGo2QDa HOUMA, La. (AP) - A white Louisiana lawmaker involved in a runoff election is apologizing for calling a black woman who had helped her campaign "Buckwheat."
State Representative Carla Blanchard Dartez, a Democrat, admits she made an insensitive comment, and says she regrets her choice of words.
Buckwheat, a black child character in the "Little Rascals" comedies of the 1930s and '40s, is viewed as a racial stereotype.
Dartez acknowledges that she ended a conversation with Hazel Boykin by saying, "Talk to you later, Buckwheat." Dartez was thanking Boykin for driving voters to the polls.
Boykin, a 75-year-old civil-rights veteran, says she considers the comment a racial slur, as she puts it, "just like the N-word."
Her son, the local NAACP president, says he plans to ask voters to cast ballots against Dartez in Saturday's runoff, and that if Dartez's Republican opponent wins, it's her responsibility.
-------------------- The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits Posts: 10204 | From: NYC | Registered: Mar 2006
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Years ago, in Alabama, I had a very good friend that was black as the ace of spades (I'm not). We were both quasi-well known and quasi-respectable in the community and we spent many many delightful and productive hours together. I will not tell you the things we called each other, but will point out that neither of us used such language unless we were not in the presence of others. There is a question of taste, that is not one of racial prejudice.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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