Jewish Rep Battles Anti-Semitism, Racism and Religious Discrimination in Re-Election Campaign

Posted by Pam Spaulding, Pam's House Blend at 1:16 PM on February 15, 2008.

Boy what a trifecta in that headline - and there's a dash of homophobia for extra seasoning!

In Tennessee's 9th district (Memphis and environs), Rep. Steve Cohen, who is Jewish, is being attacked in an flier (right, "Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen and the Jews hate Jesus") distributed by a black homobigoted pastor from Murphreesboro not even from Cohen's district, Rev. George Brooks. Cohen's opponent, Nikki Tinker, who happens to be black as well, and was called to condemn the flier. (WaPo):

[T]he literature encourages other black leaders in Memphis to "see to it that one and ONLY one black Christian faces this opponent of Christ and Christianity in the 2008 election."

The Commercial Appeal wrote an editorial in Wednesday's paper condemning Tinker for not speaking out against the anti-Semitic literature.

"What does Nikki Tinker think about anti-Semitic literature being circulated that might help her unseat 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen in the Democratic primary next August?" the editorial asked. "The question goes to the character of the woman who wants to represent the 9th District, and 9th District voters deserve an answer. But Tinker declined to return a phone call about the flier."

What was also raised in the editorial is the fact that Cohen was also assailed last year by a group of black pastors who were angered by the congressman's support of hate crimes legislation (surprise!). Even more insane and bigoted, the newspaper reported a more pointed reason for the pastors' opposition to Cohen's representation -- Rev. Robert Poindexter: "He's not black and he can't represent me, that's just the bottom line." Boy, doesn't that bring back memories of the whole Patricia Todd election debacle down in Alabama.

More below the fold, including Tinker's reaction.

Tinker's reaction to the flier as reported by the AP:

Nikki Tinker, a black lawyer expected to be Cohen's chief opponent for re-election in the Democratic primary in August, said she was incensed by the anti-Semitic attack.

"My faith teaches me to love, not hate," said Tinker, who is Christian.

The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement from Atlanta describing the flier as an attempt "to incite tension between the Memphis African-American and Jewish communities."

While I think her sentiment is laudable, you can't help but notice that she brings up faith into the reaction, underscoring that she is Christian. Why must politicians running for office feel compelled to inject religion into campaigns? Their private faith has nothing to do with civil lawmaking and representation. Anyway...

One blogosphere reaction that is interesting is that of The Malcontent, who spanks various left-of-center organizations for not jumping on this story.

The story broke yesterday, and yet, as far as I can tell, the list of people and entities that have failed to respond in any way to this vicious fusillade include Tinker herself, who declined a request for comment, the Democratic Party (in the guise of either the DCCC or DNC), the Human Rights Campaign, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

One would think that the Log Cabin Republicans would be all over this, but they aren't. It would be a great way to show that anti-Semitism and anti-gay animus, particularly in the realm of political campaigns, are not the sole province of the GOP. It would also be a good way to set themselves apart from groups like HRC and NGLTF, with whom some critics say Log Cabin works too closely, too often. Log Cabin, and anyone who claims to be promoting equality and dignity for gays, Jews or any other minority group, needs to loudly condemn such bald hatred, no matter which political party (or race) from which it emanates.

Of course I cannot speak for any of the above organizations, but racism, homophobia, gender and trans bias, and anti-Semitism, among other blights, should always be pointed out, regardless of party affiliation. I've blogged incessantly about the historic silence by mainstream organizations (black or white) to the outlandish homophobia in the black religious community has been deafening, with small whispers emerging here and there.

This case is no different, because it would mean criticizing a part of the Dem base -- religious blacks -- that many organizations are loathe to criticize in any way lest they appear to be racist. Again, it's about lack of honest and open discussion that has made these third rail topics.

On the GOP side of anti-Semitism, there has been little criticism of John McCain's national finance co-chair, Fred Malek, who has a quite a history. When he worked in the Nixon White House, he was known as the "Jew Counter." Hat tip, dnA at Too Sense:

Nixon suspected that a "cabal" of Jews at the Bureau of Labor Statistics was skewing economic figures to make the administration look bad and assigned Malek to report back on how many Jews were employed at BLS. When former President George H.W. Bush hired Malek as a top official at the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 1988, revelations in the press regarding Malek's work for Nixon reportedly led him to resign. McCain's hiring of Malek would seem to warrant the same disclosures from the media, but so far, only one news outlet other than The Nation has reported it.

There's enough bigotry to go around, and there's no excuse for anyone to defend it or let it slide because of political bedfellows. The problem is that too many people want to remain in denial.

Tagged as: anti-semitism, racism, tennessee, cohen, tinker, memphis

Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.