Dean Does Dixie

Casey Parks interviews Howard Dean, Charles Evers and the head of the Jackson State University Young Democrats about race politics in the South.

by Casey Parks
March 1, 2005
*JFP Exclusive*

They gave him a standing ovation. On Feb. 11, Howard Dean addressed the Democratic National Committee's Black Caucus with what many Republicans are calling a racially insensitive joke. "You think the Republicans could get this many people of color in a single room?" Dean asked. "Only if they had the hotel staff in here."

The members of the Black Caucus met Dean's punchline with an eruption of laughter and applause. But this response of overwhelming approval was the worst part to Charles Evers, the brother of Medgar Evers, who gathered Monday afternoon at the Mississippi state capitol with a small group of black Republicans, calling for Dean's resignation for perpetuating a stereotype.

"I'm embarrassed," Evers said at the press conference. "I am appalled because he was speaking to the Black DNC Caucus. They are just as guilty."

"None of us have worked in hotels," Evers said, motioning to the representatives behind him. "Dean belittled all of us blacks. That is saying we have no right to choose to be Republicans."

In an interview Monday, Evers told the JFP: "At this point, we shouldn't be discussing race—the head of the Democratic Party shouldn't."

But we do need to talk about race, Howard Dean said in a phone interview with the JFP Monday night. "Racism still exists, and we need to talk about that," he said. "Certainly, Mr. Evers could be a constructive part of this dialogue. I welcome his serious participation, given what his family has done for the Civil Rights Movement. I think it would be good to have a constructive dialogue rather than dueling press conferences."

Hurtful Stereotypes?
But Evers and the other black Republicans weren't open to a dialogue with Dean on Monday afternoon. Each took a turn at the microphone to express their disapproval. Some, like Mississippi's only black female Republican mayor, Yvonne Brown of Tchula, merely restated the request for an apology. Rick Whitlow, who is running for mayor of Jackson, went further, though, and said Dean's comment is just another comment "in a long line of racially insensitive comments made by the Democratic Party."

Though Whitlow offered no examples of other racially insensitive comments, many Republicans are insisting that Dean seems to have some sort of disease—an inability to keep his mouth closed. They point to Dean's quip during the Democratic presidential primary that he wanted "to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks" as proof that Dean often uses hurtful stereotypes.

That was Dean's second invocation of the flag. His first came in a February 2003 meeting of the Democratic National Committee. There, Dean received another ovation from the crowd when he said, "White folks in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals on the back ought to be voting with us, and not [Republicans], because their kids don't have health insurance, either, and their kids need better schools, too."

Dean's comments elicited disdain from both parties. John Kerry stated: "It is simply unconscionable for Howard Dean to embrace the most racially divisive symbol in America. I would rather be the candidate of the NAACP than the NRA." Dean has said he believes gun control laws should be a state matter, a position that has upset some liberal Democrats, who support federal gun control measures.

Not Anything for People of Color
Dean chuckled upon hearing of Evers' call for him to resign. "I got a standing ovation from the African American delegation—97 members of the DNC, which is about a quarter of the entire membership, so I'm not too worried about that," Dean told the JFP. "My guess is that there's a great number more African Americans who work at the DNC than exist in the entire Republican National Committee. Republicans never do anything for people of color."

Neither does Charles Evers, Demiktric Biggs says. Biggs is the president of the Jackson State University College Democrats. Biggs says he is often at the capitol, sitting in on special sessions, talking with protesters and citizens.

"I've never once seen Charles Evers at the capitol representing the black community, representing their issues and concerns," Biggs said in an interview Monday. When many Mississippians demanded that Haley Barbour remove his photo from the Web site of the historically racist group Council of Conservative Citizens in 2003, for instance, Evers did not speak up, Biggs said, and Barbour did not ask that his photo be removed.

"The Republicans cut funding for schools; they take prescription drugs out of Medicaid. Why is it that when the Republicans take teachers away from students and medicine from children and the elderly, Mr. Evers is silent?" Biggs asked after Monday's press conference. "But as soon as Howard Dean makes a statement he does not like, Mr. Evers calls a press conference."

'Insulting and Silly'
Though Evers admits Dean won't resign over this flap, he said to the JFP: "I hope that we at least let people know through this that black people aren't satisfied with comments like this. We don't need a man of his caliber making comments about other races."

While his supporters nodded their heads, Evers said the media had not chastised Dean because he is a Democrat. Biggs, though, said Dean's comments would have been forgotten if he were black. "Had Al Sharpton made that same comment, it would have been brushed off," Biggs said. "The truth is what Dean said is based on fact. Those are hard facts, and it's going to take more than Howard Dean or me pointing it out to change that."

Though Dean spoke of Evers and his family with respect, Evers afforded less credibility to Dean, saying he was appointed head of the DNC because other candidates dropped out. Whitlow, who lived in Vermont for five years, offered little respect, asserting that Dean knows nothing about black Americans because he's from Vermont, which has a low black population.

"That's pretty insulting and silly," Dean said to the JFP. "I have a whole lot of Vermonters down there at Camp Shelby training to go to Iraq, and that's why [these] remarks were so particularly insulting. Anyone who is willing to defend America is good enough for me, whether they're from Vermont or Mississippi."

In his former positions, Evers said, Dean "has never hired blacks." Dean, however, has a record of hiring many black Americans, both as governor of Vermont and in his presidential and DNC races. The woman heading his DNC transition team, Tina Flournoy, is an African American, as are other members of his transition staff.

Evers said that no Democrat has hired a Condoleezza Rice or a Colin Powell. "Black people like Democrats, though, because they saw people like Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy who were sympathetic to black people," Evers said. "But there were also people like Leroy Percy, who was a Republican. Democrats try to fool us into thinking they're going to help us, and then they don't."

According to Evers, too many black Americans are worried about getting their food stamps and welfare, and vote for Democrats who promise to continue these programs. Biggs says these kind of statements are just as insulting as Dean's. Many African Americans are still victims of voter intimidation, most of which is perpetrated by the GOP, Biggs noted. He pointed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as reasons many blacks flocked to the Democratic Party.

"They were all started under Democratic leadership. These are not feats that I would equate with just government subsidies," Biggs said.

Biggs added that he knows Evers and other black Republicans are worried that Dean will use his visit to discuss positive changes for Mississippi. "They're trying to distract him and take his time away so that he'll be talking about this, defending himself, instead of discussing positive things we can be doing," he said.

Dean on the Offensive
On the phone, Dean took the offensive, focusing on his new role as chairman of the DNC. "What we need to do is make sure that black and white voters vote together for their common economic interest. Republicans are always avoiding economic interests because they know if the debate is about jobs, health care and education, they lose every time," Dean said.

"The Republicans haven't balanced the budget since 1968. You cannot trust Republicans with your money. It's borrow and spend, borrow and spend," he continued. "We can unify against their 'fiscally conservative' policies because the Republicans are not fiscally conservative. We can unify voters around the issues of jobs and improving health care. I noticed that the governor down there tried to cut 50,000 people off of their health care. Those kinds of things are taking us in the wrong direction. The Democrats believe that jobs and job opportunities are for everybody. That's how you win in places like Mississippi."

And winning in Mississippi is important. "In Mississippi, there is about 9 percent of the black community that vote for Republicans. If that number doubles, the Republicans will have a solid grip on this state. They're looking for reasons to tell the African American community that 'hey, we're on their side.' It's easier said than for them to show, though."

Dean sees winning this state as one of his most important jobs. "My major responsibility is to make it possible to get Democrats elected in places like Mississippi. You've done that. You've had some great governors and senators in the past, but we want to make sure that Democrats can get elected both in federal and local offices," Dean explained. "The way to do that is to not allow Republicans to tell people what we're about. We're about economic responsibility; we're about security."

Providing that support for Democratic candidates is one of his top priorities. By promoting Democratic leadership, Dean avows that better job and education opportunities will be created in Mississippi. These opportunities will encourage young people to stay in the state.

"We want people to be proud of Mississippi," he said. "Mississippi has a lot to offer, but it does better under Democratic leadership. The country will do better under Democratic leadership. Working people do better under Democrats, whether they're white or black."

IMPORTANT Notice: This story in its entirety, and all quotes from Jackson Free Press interviews with Howard Dean, Charles Evers and others contained in this story, are copyright of the Jackson Free Press 2005. Any use of these quotes must be fully attributed to the Jackson Free Press.

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