Newsletter from a local conservative PAC group. Their take is pretty much the same as mine from my own observations.

The Durham Committee - A Betrayal of Values

Back in the 50's, Khrushchev predicted the triumph of Communism by saying "we will bury you." On August 10. 2002, U.S. Senate candidate Dan Blue predicted the triumph of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People at its endorsement meeting by reportedly saying that "we can take over in Durham." Who does the Durham Committee want to take over Durham from? The city council and county commission have had a black majority for many years. The Durham Committee apparently wants to exclude all non-black representation. It has endorsed only black candidates for local offices. We believe Durham should choose its leaders based on their positions on the issues rather than their race?

One also must ask, what "we" is the Durham Committee talking about? Black people? The Durham Committee does not represent the black people of Durham. It represents wealthy, powerful, well-connected black people who have betrayed everything decent the Committee ever stood for. Look at its leader, Lavonia Allison. As is fully recounted in the November 21, 2001 edition of The Independent, Allison hit an 8 year old girl with her truck in 1994, intimidated the child's family, and, eight years later, this girl is still missing six front teeth. The irony of this sad story is that Allison's son is a Durham dentist! Also documented in The Independent is Allison's status as one of Durham's most notorious slumlords, whose most miserable tenants are the very black people she supposedly represents. She never stops trying to bully the School Board and the superintendent (people who really are trying to help children of all races). Allison even shot down the historic Memorandum of Understanding signed by her predecessor and the Friends of Durham as a framework to fight racism and move the whole community forward. Who is Allison's greatest ally? Curtis Gatewood, the head of the local NAACP. Gatewood is the man who was dragged away to jail by the police on August 8, 2002 while shouting "No justice, no peace" at a School Board meeting. You may remember that Gatewood publicly expressed his sympathy for the September 11 terrorists, much to the displeasure of the national NAACP leadership.

The Committee has abandoned all pretence that its cause is noble. It doesn't care about "black people," and it certainly does not care about white people or brown people. It cares only about getting its hands on the County's budget, finding government jobs for its otherwise unemployable insiders, and obtaining power over you. It is counting on your apathy and failure to vote to help it gain and consolidate its control over Durham. Unlike the Committee, we still believe it is possible to address all legitimate racial issues in Durham, and that the best things for everyone regardless of color are good schools, less crime and lower taxes. Equal opportunity, good government and economic growth remain the heart of the Friends of Durham's purpose. We will not be "taken over" by the Durham Committee.

Join with us to reject the racism of the Durham Committee. Vote for the candidates we have endorsed. These candidates, both black and white, have Durham's best interests at heart. They are people who will not loot the public treasury or abuse the public trust for their own gain. Vote for them on September 10 to preserve your neighborhood, your schools, and your community. Show that you have had enough by going to the polls. Let's make the Durham Committee's efforts as big a fiasco as their boycott of Northgate Mall.

-- Anonymous, September 08, 2002

Answers

Voting day sounds to be interesting in Durham.

We are of course getting ready for a vote tomorrow, too. Let's see the choices:

Bush or Reno or McBride.

not a hard choice, huh?

For those that don't know McBride, the ads that Bush has put out say that McBride cut health benefits and froze wage levels for the support staff at his law firm so that the partners could 'earn' and extra 50,000. Then he left the firm, and it eventually fell apart putting all the employees out of work. so, do we want this mentality running the state?

Then there's Reno. 'nuff said.

-- Anonymous, September 09, 2002