Sunday, October 1, 2006

ike leggett is black (did you know?)

Now that the primary elections have been neatly wrapped up and are now behind us, the Post wanted to remind Montgomery County Democrats that we just nominated a black guy, also known as Ike Leggett, for County Executive. In addition, they wanted to congratulate us for not paying attention to race when we went to the polls because, obviously, we're still the all-white bedroom community we were in the 1950's and it really is a wonder we could muster up support for a black candidate.

I'm not saying racism doesn't exist in Montgomery County. Racist graffiti has appeared on buildings from Poolesville to Burtonsville to the tony Kentlands. As a person of half-Black and half-Indian descent, I've encountered racism in a much subtler form in Montgomery County. It's difficult to escape prejudice, but I would like to think that in a community as diverse as ours - "44.5 percent minority," as the Post says - there is no need to congratulate ourselves for putting people of color in leadership positions.

Race was never an issue in this election. (NeighborsPAC was too busy distracting voters with the "evils of developers.") Why, then, does the Post have to make it one? They've already been doing it with the Senate elections, as MoCo Politics has pointed out. Although I have serious problems with Ike Leggett's policy, I still consider him to be an experienced politician and, according to the people of Montgomery County, he is the best man for the job.

Pity votes don't belong in the County government. We understand that. Why doesn't anyone else?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good point. Frankly, I really thought that race would be an issue in the primary. I guess it does say something about our community that people are able to look past skin color...

Anonymous said...

I think the story Cameron Barr really wanted to write was how the Black community messed up its chances of winning an at-large seat on the Council, but his editors thought that wasn't really worth a whole story so they led with Ike becoming the Black County Exec of a majority-white jurisdiction. The juicy stuff was way further down in the story when Donell Peterman craps all over the African American Democratic Club and Hugh Bailey basically blames Valerie Ervin for his (Bailey's) defeat.

MoCo said...

Ike may be black, but just remember: Ficker is the only true African-American running for County Executive. And that's a fact!

Anonymous said...

The Washington Post has a long history of misunderstanding or misinterpreting Maryland and our politics. You have to wonder if some of their editorial staff ever comes here, outside of the occasional meal in Bethesda or a party in Potomac.

Remember the coverage of the sniper attacks, both in the Post and on outlets like CNN? Communities like Aspen Hill were described as affluent. I like Aspen Hill (although the clerks at Michaels are possibly the most surly group of women under one roof) and am through there all the time, but it was a stretch to imagine the area as affluent.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Robin; over on the Post's County Connections blog one of your employees called Ike Leggett a thief. Don't you think you should have the guts to make that kind of accusation yourself, Robin?

Anonymous said...

Actually, that's Robin himself. "Angelina Bradshaw" is an alias he used to use writing letters to the editor saying how great Ficker is. Then somebody realized that "Angelina Bradshaw" is the name of a character in a video game. Google the name "Angelina Bradshaw" and you'll see he even got a letter printed in the Gazette. Robin has got some real problems with reality testing; his supporters only exist in his own imagination.

Anonymous said...

Robin Ficker and his supporters (most of them aliases for himself) and his detractors are cluttering up every blog relating to county politics. I am tired of wading through post after post about him when I would really like to read people's comments about issues in Montgomery County. He is a selfish, childish man.