MedicCook
11-13-2007, 02:25 AM
Candidate Apologizes For 'Buckwheat' Remark
HOUMA, La. -- A state representative in a runoff election infuriated civil rights leaders after she ended a conversation with the mother of the NAACP's local president by saying, "Talk to you later, Buckwheat."
State Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez, of Morgan City, acknowledged she made the remark during a Thursday night telephone conversation with Hazel Boykin to thank her for driving voters to the polls.
Buckwheat, a black child character in the "Little Rascals" comedies of the 1930s and '40s, is viewed as a racial stereotype demeaning to black people.
Hazel Boykin's son, Jerome, is the NAACP's president in Terrebonne Parish. She is well-known as a 1960s civil rights activist, helping to desegregate restaurants and the parish school system.
Dartez has represented parts of Terrebonne, St. Mary and Assumption parishes since 1999. She has said she does not intend to drop out of the race.
"I made an insensitive comment when speaking with Hazel Boykin, and I have apologized to the Boykin family and publicly for my choice of words," Dartez said in a statement. "I have a strong record of fighting for issues important to the African American community; in fact, I have a 93 percent voting record with the Black Caucus."
But the "Buckwheat" remark is the latest bit of trouble for Dartez and her husband, Lenny, who is a member of the Democratic Party's State Central Committee.
Before qualifying in September, Carla Dartez was given a summons for improper lane usage after hitting a pedestrian with her vehicle. She failed a field sobriety test but passed a later Breathalyzer test.
Earlier this month, Lenny Dartez was indicted on charges of allegedly harboring illegal aliens through his construction business.
http://www.wdsu.com/news/14573933/detail.html
HOUMA, La. -- A state representative in a runoff election infuriated civil rights leaders after she ended a conversation with the mother of the NAACP's local president by saying, "Talk to you later, Buckwheat."
State Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez, of Morgan City, acknowledged she made the remark during a Thursday night telephone conversation with Hazel Boykin to thank her for driving voters to the polls.
Buckwheat, a black child character in the "Little Rascals" comedies of the 1930s and '40s, is viewed as a racial stereotype demeaning to black people.
Hazel Boykin's son, Jerome, is the NAACP's president in Terrebonne Parish. She is well-known as a 1960s civil rights activist, helping to desegregate restaurants and the parish school system.
Dartez has represented parts of Terrebonne, St. Mary and Assumption parishes since 1999. She has said she does not intend to drop out of the race.
"I made an insensitive comment when speaking with Hazel Boykin, and I have apologized to the Boykin family and publicly for my choice of words," Dartez said in a statement. "I have a strong record of fighting for issues important to the African American community; in fact, I have a 93 percent voting record with the Black Caucus."
But the "Buckwheat" remark is the latest bit of trouble for Dartez and her husband, Lenny, who is a member of the Democratic Party's State Central Committee.
Before qualifying in September, Carla Dartez was given a summons for improper lane usage after hitting a pedestrian with her vehicle. She failed a field sobriety test but passed a later Breathalyzer test.
Earlier this month, Lenny Dartez was indicted on charges of allegedly harboring illegal aliens through his construction business.
http://www.wdsu.com/news/14573933/detail.html