Shreveport, Louisiana elected its first African-American mayor, Democrat
Cedric Glover in 2006. After that historic election, one may have thought that the Southern city had put its legacy of racial division behind them.
Not so much.
Republican candidate
Bryan Wooley, who is running for mayor of Shreveport, has sparked anger among African-Americans in the Louisiana town.
It began with a "Freedom Rally" event reportedly sponsored by the mayoral candidate.
The event, which was planned for this past Wednesday and Thursday, advertised
free chicken and limo rides to voting polls. Now, it IS the South and chicken wings and limo rides are beloved by most citizens, regardless of color.
However, these fliers were reportedly only placed in Shreveport's
Cooper Road area. Cooper Road is a predominantly black neighborhood also known as the
Martin Luther King neighborhood.
Needless to say, the flyers were seen offensive and racist to many of Shreveport's black residents. Fellow mayoral candidate
Parker Ward told the Shreveport Times, "Words can't express my anger over this racist move. I am calling on Bryan Wooley to send a public apology to the African- American community."
According to the Times, calls to Wooley's campaign spokesperson to verify the authenticity of the flyer and event were not immediately returned this morning.
Someone call Bryan Wooley, and tell him he needs more people.
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Comments: (22)
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By: ARNEADER on 9/24/2010 10:03PM
Shreveport is a small clean Southern town.
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By: The Truth on 9/25/2010 10:07AM
I like chicken! A free limo ride too!
The only apology needed will be to the one's who'll be missing out!
I would bet that in some “other” neighborhoods the flyers offer “Prime rib, crab legs, sushi, whatever!”.
You won’t hear those people complaining or assuming racism. They’re just going to get on that bus and get theirs. Once the voting booth curtain is closed, vote for who you want.
One should “Choose their battles” wisely.
When you cry wolf and play the race card for every “little” thing
more “relevant” issues get lost in the sea of accusations.
We have to (HAVE TO)
Stop dropping the race card every time someone forgets our fries at a drive thru.
It’s not racism, it’s politics.
I will not be jumping on the bandwagon for this one.
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By: ARNEADER on 9/25/2010 2:42PM
@The Truth don't insult our intelligence we know when someone is being RACIST. Black people eat in your words “Prime rib, crab legs, sushi, whatever!”. He could have offered that and we would have NEVER given it another thought. All he was missing from his ad was "watermelon, loud rap music and a TV". You go tell someone els that BS!
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By: jamarcus on 9/24/2010 10:04PM
I am African American and if I can get free chicken and a limo ride just to go vote, I would volunteer.
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By: Arizona Mildman on 9/26/2010 5:50PM
I am sorry, maybe you missed the part about this was offered for them to vote for HIM, not just to go vote. I am Italian and if someone offered me spaghetti to vote for him as if I am STUPID enough to be bribed into voting for someone who belongs to a party that is against human rights and doesn't represent my race in congress at all (there are NO black U.S. Congressmen, but they aren't racist, HA! Racists didn't establish the Republican Party but now most of them have joined. Being culturally insensitive as if some kind of food is going to mesmerize African Americans and cause them to vote for this guy is as racist as one can get. Oh, and I forgot about the Limo Rides, yeah, all you black people out there who live in the ghetto and want a free limo ride on me, come vote my way. This is as corrupt as the politician who go to the Nursing Homes and get people who can't remember their own name, feed them ice cream and candy and other crappy food that they can't get at the Nursing Home and then driving them to the polls to vote for him. Before you even think about saying that isn't the same thing, look at it, think, that IS an attempt at the same thing, but to think that intelligent African Americans are too stupid to see this as a ploy, then tell me, Is Michael Steele a token negro? Check out his comments lately.
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By: Lametra on 9/27/2010 2:32PM
I'll take the free stuff but, I'm not voting for this guy.
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By: Beth Pierce on 9/25/2010 1:08AM
You should get your facts straight. A black woman headed up this event. And they served burgers and prime rib, not chicken wings. Here is a link to the news story.
http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=13215667
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By: Shreveport Citizen on 9/25/2010 10:12AM
Get your facts,
The lady is a paid Bryan Wooley Staffer.
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By: R2 on 9/25/2010 6:52PM
I am a Wooley volunteer. I promise you she is not staffer. Let alone paid.
Getting paid would be nice, but I love what I do more.
Regardless, your baseless ad hom attack on Beth fails to discredit KSLA's reporting on the matter.
Even if she were a Wooley staffer, the truth remains the same. This event was organized by Virginia Evans, who lives in the MLK area.
How can a person be a racist unto themselves? To their own neighborhood? I'm white. If I walk around my neighborhood giving out Hotpockets and Starbucks to my white neighbors, does that make me racist?
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By: Karl on 9/26/2010 2:04AM
Regardless of if she was a staffer or not- this had nothing to do with chicken wings. The name of her restaurant is called "Wings and More" where they had hamburgers and prime rib. Read the sign again, the only reference to (chicken) wings is in the name of the restaurant. It sounds like a case of reacting before all the facts come in.
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