Who Are You Calling A Bitch?By Opio Lumumba Sokoni
January 6, 2003
Even though he was tucked away in the woods of Hickory, North Carolina we heard Congressman Cass Ballenger (R-NC) call Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (R-GA) a bitch. It is enraging to know that this public figure would open his mouth this way towards a congresswoman who has proven to be a brave fighter for the poor. It is not everyday that Americans get to witness a politician who would rather stand on her moral convictions than to go along with the politics of the immediate time. McKinney’s leadership caused Republicans to vote heavily in the Georgia democratic primary which ousted her.
In a December 19th interview with The Charlotte Observer, Ballenger said he has had "segregationist feelings" in the past after conflicts with Cynthia McKinney. Ballenger’s exact words were, "I mean, she was such a bitch." I thought that I could forget it after I heard that he issued an apology the next day. I even ignored the report that on the same day that he apologized for his comments, he ordered an aide to paint the black lawn jockey at his Hickory residence white.
There may be a number of reasons why he has not suffered the same outcome as his colleague Trent Lott. Such as, he is not in a coveted leadership position where close friends of the president (who have the same voting records) would act so outraged by the comments that he would have to step down. Or, maybe we have not done enough.
The local branch of the NAACP demanded his resignation citing previous racist comments by Ballenger. For instance, when addressing a redrawing of congressional district lines in 1999, Ballenger told a civic club that the new district lines "took the country club people away from me and gave me all the blacks."
Ballenger may feel comfortable making such sheet-and-hood comments in a district that is only 7% black. Well, he has to come to DC. There are some of us who would love to see more action on this. We would love to see 100 brave black women (or BITCHES, as he would call them) waiting for him on some of the days that he arrives to work on The Hill. We would love to see his office telephone ring off the hook for five straight weeks (there are five letters in the word “BITCH”). We would like to see him receive thousands of faxes and emails where he is getting a piece of our minds and where the subject line is entitled, “Who Are You Calling A Bitch.” Finally, I would love to see entertainers, especially the Hip Hoppers, make a public stand on this. Whatever we do, we should not let KKKass Ballenger get away with this.
Rep. Cass Ballenger’s Contact Information:
Address 2182 RHOB
Washington, DC 20515-3310
Phone 202-225-2576
FAX 202-225-0316
E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Web Site: http://www.house.gov/ballenger/
North Carolina District Office
P.O. Box 1830
361 10th Ave. Drive, NE
Hickory, NC 28603
828-327-6100 ph.
828-327-8311 fx.
800-477-2576 (NC)