Virginian-Pilot wrong on race again
By Brian Kirwin | Sunday, February 7th, 2010 | Politics“But since John L. Perry’s historic win, Virginia Beach voters have elected only one other black person to the City Council.” (Virginian-Pilot)
Wrong!!!!!! What the sentence should read is..”only one other black person has won an election to VB City Council.”
It’s not the voters’ fault that they aren’t as racist as those who think voters have a problem when they don’t have racial quotas in mind when they vote. But then again, that’s the logic that leads the NAACP in asserting that a Filipino Councilman’s appointed replacement shouldn’t be Filipino.
And it’s not City Council’s fault when the Virginia Beach African-American Political Action Council’s favored candidate to replace Ron Villanueva was merely months before protesting down at City Hall ranting “each vote matters” for the cameras, trying to turn a fair and honest process into a political football and protesting honest electoral board members who never did anything wrong.
Does anyone with a brain think that’s behavior ANY city council would see as a plus?
Here’s a hint. Protesting a Councilman’s win in a Delegate race makes you look silly when you offer to take his Council seat afterward.
The same candidate was one of two African Americans who both ran against an incumbent who is white, split the vote, and both lost.
Are the voters racists? Or are the candidates shooting themselves in the foot?
Editorial Board member Roger Chesley (whose columns are not online) quotes Georgia Allen, NAACP President, who called the recent appointment of Rita Sweet Belitto “discrimination” without mentioning Allen’s repeated failed runs for office. Georgia failed. Georgia lost twice. Chesley leaves that out, while not failing to mention that Belitto ran and lost in 2002. Wanna play the race card? The Pilot has a long way to go before it strikes “balance.”
If a lack of minorities on VB City Council is “discrimination,” guess what that makes the Pilot’s endorsements? In 2008, the Pilot endorsed two white incumbents for Council who both had African-American challengers. Is the editorial board racist, too? Roger? Hello?
Rogers opines that Virginia Beach should be more like Chesapeake and Norfolk (honestly, that’s what he wrote) even though Chesapeake is completely at-large and Norfolk is a ward system. Maybe someone will explain that to him before he writes that again. With all due respect to our neighbor cities, I don’t know anyone in Virginia Beach who wishes we were either of them. For those who do, it’s not a long drive.
If elections are so tough, Roger, maybe the Pilot can write about local campaigns a little more frequently than once or twice a year. Want to balance the field for candidates with less campaign dollars? Write a story once in a while. Cover a debate. Do something more than send ad reps.
The NAACP should learn what the VBTA should learn. Failure in campaigns actually comes down to the candidates, and voters vote for the best person. Virginia Beach has a 20% African-American population. If the NAACP wants to turn elections solely into race battles, they’ve just written off 80%.
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The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.
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26 Responses to "Virginian-Pilot wrong on race again"
Brian,
One of the things about The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is that it looks at and measures the voter composition in electoral districts. From that legal standpoint, the sentence from The V-P is exactly right.
Then, the candidates AAPAC puts forward aren’t going to pay the fees to have you as their consultant. Therefore, as you stand to make money off of exclusion, you embrace it.
Next year is City redistricting year. Does Virginia Beach’s elite actually believe they can sit on the population indefinitely? They’re deluded fools if they think they can. Some form of electoral reform, even if it’s a soft reform, needs to be done.
Henry, that’s a pretty racist comment you make, but it’s nice of you to attack me.
I guess I could attack you for your job, if we ever talk about ticket takers at the movies.
I’ve worked for candidates who were outspent 5 to 1 and still won. I’ve worked with minority clients who have won.
If the VBTA kept losing and ran to the Feds to help them win, you’d pummel them relentlessly.
But since you’ve been calling for a race war to break out in Virginia Beach since the 90s, I guess you’ll keep pushing for one, like a sad old man waiting for the horse and buggy to make a comeback.
Brian, I would agree with you to an extent. Minorities have been given the same opportunity as non-minorities to run for and/or be appointed to Virginia Beach City Council. As I wrote on VB Dems, “the issue for Beach Democrats is not the recruitment of good minority candidates. Andrew Jackson and Georgia Allen stand out in my mind as good examples. The problem is our organization that can’t get any Democratic candidate – black, white, red or purple – elected.”
I don’t agree with you as far as Andrew Jackson is concerned. He/we had every right to rally/protest the vote count with our end goal being to ensure the process was open, fair and honest. It was and with the verdict rendered and the race conceded, we move on. Otherwise, there would have been a court battle, things up in limbo and VB not yet in a position to appoint Villanueva’s replacement.
Do you really think there should be penalties for participating in a protest?
It isn’t an R vs D issue. IMO: Its the current R’s who run VB’s Council that keep raising our taxes for the busines community’s benefit. The D’s have done the same when they ran the show. So getting a minority D on council isn’t the answer. You need good candidates of all color working as a units to bring the majority of voters to the table. Race alone isn’t going to win a single rce in VB. You can’t win with 20%.
Now if a minority wanted to actually win in 2010 or beyond I suggest the following and folks get out and do some real work. Elections can be won if you have money. But if you have no money to spend, they get won by working with voters and organized groups.
I believe if the VB African American leaders wanted to place 1 or more African Americans on city council in November 2010, they should look at their own local grassroots activities with conservative minority candidates while seriously looking to combining forces with the VB Tax Payers Alliance organizations AND the 17,000 city and school employees associations. The Taxpayer’s organization has historically carried about 16% of the vote and the minority residents account for 20% of the population. Throw in 17,000 city and school employees who are going into a layoff and no pay raise for the budget for a third straight year and you have more than enough voters to defeat any candidates the establishment could put forth.
Frankly if anyone organized those three organizations into one unified voting body, then all the city council members could be defeated and replaced with minority and conservative developement candidates. I think it could be done if folks were willing to join forces and come to the center on budget priorities and candidates.
It will take work, compromise of issues of egos/issues and LEADERSHIP to organize the groups and is not for the faint of heart. However complaining about it without doing the work is not productive and is just the spinning of wheels. Just my opinion…
BTW: Folks can dream of replacing council members all day long but if there are not viable candidates running in those races, then it is all just a dream. If you want to win, do the work and find real qualified candidates.
Eileen: IMO: Georgia Allen was not qualified as a “good candidate” for her reported bankruptcy issues. Nobody who really cares about good government is going to vote for somebody who has filled bankruptcy. If you can’t manage your finances then you can’t manage the taxpayers… Del. Welch comes to mind…
“Do you really think there should be penalties for participating in a protest?”
No. Just for stupidity.
Agreed Brian.
I must have missed the rampant voter outrage that Mathieson was trying to cater to with his moronic protest. When was every vote NOT being counted? This isn’t Florida, and Bobby Mathieson, and Democrats in general, looked like horribly sore losers who were protesting for no other reason than just to protest. The same way that Steve Hunt has no leg to stand on if he would have bothered to ask for a recount in his race up north. In electronic balloting, asking for a recount is a waste of time, as Bobby proved. Protest was completely unnecessary and stupid.
I guess according to Mr. Ryto, the call for volunteers to fill the missing seat should have included, “Only other than Caucasian need apply”. I’m sure he wouldn’t considered that racist.
Wally,
It seems you’re thinking of the VBTA membership application: “Only Caucasians need apply”.
Brian,
Apples and oranges comparison:
1. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 doesn’t apply to the all-White VBTA.
2. The VBTA doesn’t make up over one-third of the city’s population and growing.
The minority communities are, to borrow from the Israelis, “creating facts”. If you and those you’re in bed with have a problem with those facts, I’ll let that say what it does about you.
“The NAACP should learn what the VBTA should learn. Failure in campaigns actually comes down to the candidates, and voters vote for the best person. Virginia Beach has a 20% African-American population. If the NAACP wants to turn elections solely into race battles, they’ve just written off 80%.” – Brian Kirwin
To be fair to the VBTA, Brian, they did endorse Jeff McWaters that won quite easily. Maybe they are learning something? As far as quality of candidates go, the best doesn’t always win. Best campaingner/fund raiser maybe. Nobody will ever convince me that John Moss wasn’t the best objective pick for Mayor of VB.
William, have the unions finally learned that council/Spore doesn’t have their interest at heart? How many broken promises? With good governing, the past revenue boom from the real estate bubble wouldn’t have been wasted as soon as every tax dollar arrived and today’s pain wouldn’t be as bad. Really, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if home prices/tax revenues continue to soar and wages to pay those mortgages/taxes don’t, there will be problems! The city acknowledges problems when it calls for “workforce” housing that really is still out of reach for some. I’ve been pushing a reasonable alliance for a while. I’ve spoken to Dean and Moss about it in the past. That doesn’t mean that damage hasn’t been done to the budget already and they’d agree to far fetched compensation changes. They would be honest with you, though. They certainly appear willing to work with minorities and those in Public Safety. They backed V.B.P.D. Capt. John Bell even though he was going against an unstoppable force in Stolle. Speaking of which, are deputies getting the pay parity he promised yet?
Henry, so are you going to compare the VBTA to the KKK again like you did in the Virginian Pilot here:
“The only real difference between the VBTA and the KKK is that the VBTA is a little more subtle.” – Henry Ryto in comment section of Pilotonline here:
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/07/mayor-will-sessoms-ceo-va-beach-inc
That’s all you have Henry? Using race baiting tactics and making false allegations of racism? You care to explain why governors, lt. Governers, members of congress, State senators, state representatives, and members of council have all spoken at meetings by these horrible VBTA people? Did Chuck Smith not know VBTA like you do? Why did Georgia Allen agree to show up for a debate when she ran for office? Andrew Jackson? Pastor Joe Flores? I’ve seen Vivian Paige at a VBTA meeting covering an event. Did she not know she was in danger? When the VBTA angered local Republicans by endorsing John Bell for Sheriff, did Bell not understand the VBTA to be a racist organization like you do?
So, instead of attacking arguements the VBTA makes, that you don’t like……instead of offering your own reasons for your issues……you again try to paint the VBTA as racists? So, just how are you helping race relations here Henry? By starting witch hunts? By pointing your race baiting finger at VBTA and hurling false allegations or implying they may be racist since they called you on it last time?
As far as Moss, you can’t campaign only on Saturday mornings to the same 30 people and win.
Henry, if I were you, I never would use the term “in bed with” again.
Stick to things you have experience with.
Britt,
First, the VBTA was, is, and always shall be an all-White group.
Second, if the VBTA’s agenda replaced current City policy, it would result in a huge exodus of minority residents out of Virginia Beach. You expect anyone to believe that’s not the intent of the all-White VBTA?
Third, only once has a VBTA City Council candidate received the endorsement of a major minority organization: John Moss by AAPAC in 2004. Then, that endorsement was primarily a slap in the face of Rosemary Wilson, not an embrace of Moss.
Speaking of Moss, he didn’t even bother to show up for a candidate interview with AAPAC when running for Mayor in 2008. That they would blow off the African-American community leadership with Obama at the top of the ballot speaks volumes about what contempt John Moss & Robert Dean have for the minority communities.
Gee, Mr. Ryto I know what would please you. Since Sect 5 of the Voting Rights Act has been so screwed up by judicial decisions, why don’t you suggest that instead of party affiliation, we replace it with racial/ethnic codes. For example: AA(African-American); AA (Asia-American); AA (Austrian-American); AA (Australian-American); IA (Irish-American); JW (Jewish); MM (Marlboro-man) and so forth!
Let’s draft Bruce Smith and be done with it.
“you can’t campaign only on Saturday mornings to the same 30 people and win.”
(@ Brian K. )Doing that, you can’t even get the 16% or around 30,000 votes that he got in a race split by an entrenched incumbent(Oberndorf), Sessoms an opponent that had the ultimate warchest to finance & market himself as the alternative to Oberndorf, and a further split vote by Scott Taylor a current congressional candidate for the 2nd district. Regardless, that doesn’t change the fact that Moss would have been the best pick for the city’s financial health.
Henry, the Moss campaign was continually looking for friends and potential donors. Not easy going up against 2 heavily hitters to find funding, btw. He sent schedules out to his staff on a regular basis, some of which I still have saved on my computer. He did have multiple conflicting engagements and at times had to choose. While I will not acknowledge that he didn’t attend that engagement, I haven’t checked the files yet, I do know a few things from memory. I did urge him to go and other staff mentioned that things were already decided and that Moss had no hope of getting an endorsement. You were already saying that as you attempted to poison the well on the blogosphere. Which seems to be your mission. That being, to race bait and attempt to make minorities with a conservative view feel uncomfortable in joining their local taxpayer advocacy organization.
Same thing was used against the Tea Party. First the Tea Party was labeled as being only old angry white men. Then it was acknowledged that there were younger whites and women, but the racism charge was never withdrawn. It only went silent after all the pictures started popping up showing plenty of people of all colors. You may mean well, deep inside, but you are not helping race relations by using this tactic.
“Second, if the VBTA’s agenda replaced current City policy, it would result in a huge exodus of minority residents out of Virginia Beach. You expect anyone to believe that’s not the intent of the all-White VBTA?” -Henry Ryto
Oh really, Henry? Care to explain how that works? What a false and absurd statement. More reputation damaging false accusations on your part.
“Third, only once has a VBTA City Council candidate received the endorsement of a major minority organization: John Moss by AAPAC in 2004.” – Henry Ryto
Thank you Henry, for admitting that they endorsed John Moss in the past even though you compare VBTA to the KKK in Pilotonline! All just to give a raspberry to Rosemary Wilson, you say? Wow, that’s another good one.
Minorities are increasingly more open to conservatism. Any that are interested in a non-partisan taxpayer advocacy group that focuses on reigning in reckless spending should join VBTA.
John Harvie, I don’t think the public will go for a repeat offender in regards to drinking and driving. Or did you mean to say Chuck Smith rather than Bruce?
Britt, I did mean Bruce. Your jab at him is overkill.
John, that wasn’t a jab. Nothing personal at all.
You made a suggestion and I pointed out what would be brought up by any opponent of his. Not to mention MADD.
Britt,
First of all, the VBTA’a agenda isn’t conservatism, but rather beyond the pale radicalism.
Second, Rosemary Wilson is despised by the African-American community leadership. That’s why they put their best-known figure (Georgia Allen) up against her in 2008. In turn, they held their noses in 2004 and endorsed Moss as he was the only challenger who might have had a chance of beating her.
Yes, Moss blew off AAPAC. I have it straight from a ranking NAACP official – and the slight was noted.
You take out two of your other objections out with your own point. You note Moss’ own campaign Staff knew he didn’t have a chance of winning the AAPAC endorsement. There’s a simple reason why: they knew they couldn’t sell the VBTA’s racist agenda to the African-American community leadership. They are certainly smart enough to know a VBTA-controlled City Council would be a disaster for their community.
Oh, so now the VBTA has a racist agenda? How so Henry?
Btw, Henry, you took what I said out of context. Nobody “knew” anything, but suggested that alliances were already made and that he should attend events that weren’t decided. Nobody wants to slight anyone, but sometimes you have to choose. It has nothing to do with race. You make the ugly race baiting allegations, the burden of proof is on you Henry.
I grow tired of Henry’s slanderious and false race baiting in regard to the VBTA.
Henry Ryto is a member of the “Freeloader Class” and the VBTA stands in the way of his agenda. So he throws as much mud as he can, hoping someone – anyone – might believe his lies.
I serve as the Vice Chairman of the VBTA. Our board and members do not dwell on matters of race, we focus on issues, policies, taxes, and problem solving.
Reid,
The VBTA hasn’t stopped anything since 2002.
And that incorrect OPINION you offer has WHAT do do with YOUR false race baiting Henry? Nothing. Just trying to change the subject I suppose – because you are once again caught in your own lies and distortions.
How’s Richard Maddox doing, Henry?
And if Georgia Allen is “their best” I’d hate to see their worst.
Reid,
You should be the last to accuse of “lies and distortions” when earlier today you were called on hamptonroads.com for posting exactly that.
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