Waldo Jaquith Nails Kilgore and Howell for Racial Code Language

Violent. That?s a Howell code word. There was nothing about the response [to criticism of the Kilgore campaign's African American "steering committee" by Richmond's leading black newspaper, the Free Press]  that would make ?violent? a reasonable description, but the phrase ?react violently? is not so bizarre that the average Virginian would sit up and take notice. But, as with the ?black hands? ad in Oklahoma, the use of this word established a connection between the sort of black people who support Tim Kaine (?violent?) and the sort who support Kilgore (implicitly not violent). The message wasn?t cluttered (no overt racism), and there remained plausible deniability (?react violently? isn?t an unheard-of expression) ? standard Howell.

Exactly.  Scott Howell (see shadowy picture above) is the person who put together the infamous, racist "black hands" ad in the 2004 Oklahoma Senate race.  By the way, Howell's candidate, far-right Republican Tom Coburn, won that race.  In other words, this stuff may be despicable but it's also effective -- if done by a skilled (albeit ruthless and unscrupulous) professional like Scott Howell.  And, of course, Howell simply ignored a call by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to take down their "race-baiting ad [on immigration]...immediately" and to issue an "apology...to our nation's Hispanic and African American communities."  Just as he is certain to ignore articles on blogs like Waldo Jaquith's or on RaisingKaine.

Unfortunately, Howell has now brought his "unique" brand of political advisory services from Texas to Virginia.  Among other things, Howell's got his current client, Jerry Kilgore, out there making cleverly coded attacks on immigrants, minorities, and even the religious convictions of his opponent, Tim Kaine.  All while complaining that Kaine is somehow biased against people with a southwest Virignia accent (even though Kaine is married to a woman from the proud and venerable SWVA family of former Republican governor Linwood Holton).  It's truly shameless.  It's also classic Scott Howell.

What next, is the Kilgore campaign going to attack Tim Kaine's patriotism and argue that he loves Osama bin Laden?  Seriously, it wouldn't surprise me in the least, because that's EXACTLY what Howell did against triple-amputee and Vietnam War hero Max Cleland in Georgia, simply because Cleland opposed one specific version -- the Bush Administration's -- of a Homeland Security bill.  I would point out that Bush himself strongly opposed creating a Department of Homeland Security, "until it became apparent that legislation creating it would pass Congress in mid-2002. "  So, was Bush an Osama-loving traitor as well?  Or are Democrats simply not vicious and twisted enough to "pull a Scott Howell" on Bush, even though Mr. "Mission Accomplished" didn't even serve in Vietnam, let alone give three limbs for his country like Max Cleland did?  That last question was rhetorical, by the way.

Getting back to Waldo Jaquith's brilliant article, and to the use of racial "code language" more broadly, let me add two more examples that Waldo didn't mention.  First, in the debate this past weekend, Jerry Kilgore specifically mentioned the "complaints" he hears "all the time" in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads from parents who say "my good student can't get into the University of Virginia."  Just so there is no misunderstanding or ambiguity here, Kilgore's comments were made DIRECTLY in response to, and in the context of, a heated discussion on "affirmative action" and university diversity programs. 

In fact, my notes on the debate show that Tim Kaine had, just seconds earlier, pointed out that Jerry Kilgore's AG office had pressured Virginia Tech and had provided it with faulty legal advice as part of an attempt to intimidate the school into dropping its diversity programs.  Kaine then asserted that our universities should be diverse and "should look like Virginia looks."  Right after that, Kilgore smoothly segued into his story about Northern Virginia parents' (code language:  overwhelmingly white people) complaining to him constantly about limited room for their kids at UVA (code language:  "my child was denied admission so that a less-qualified black student could have the spot").  This response was obviously not an ad lib on Kilgore's part, but was undoubtedly well-planned and well-rehearsed by Scott "Black Hands" Howell and company.

One more prime example of Kilgore/Howell's use of racial code language revolves around the issue of capital punishment.  Whether one supports the death penalty or not, there is not much debate about the fact that it has been applied disproportionately to poor and minority defendants.  For instance, according to the non-profit Death Penalty Information Center :

Two of the country's foremost researchers on race and capital punishment, law professor David Baldus and statistician George Woodworth, along with colleagues in Philadelphia, have conducted a careful analysis of race and the death penalty in Philadelphia which reveals that the odds of receiving a death sentence are nearly four times (3.9) higher if the defendant is black. These results were obtained after analyzing and controlling for case differences such as the severity of the crime and the background of the defendant. The data were subjected to various forms of analysis, but the conclusion was clear: blacks were being sentenced to death far in excess of other defendants for similar crimes.

A second study by Professor Jeffrey Pokorak and researchers at St. Mary's University Law School in Texas provides part of the explanation for why the application of the death penalty remains racially skewed. Their study found that the key decision makers in death cases around the country are almost exclusively white men. Of the chief District Attorneys in counties using the death penalty in the United States, nearly 98% are white and only 1% are African-American.

To reiterate:  1) the chances of being executed in America for committing the same exact crime are 4 times greater if the defendant is black than if he is white; and 2) the attorneys making these decisions are 98% white.  Yet Jerry Kilgore, the former Attorney General of Virginia, mocks such claims that the death penalty is applied unfairly, knowing full well that this is indeed the case.  Kilgore was in full "mock mode" this past Saturday at the Greenbrier, ridiculing the decision by former Illinois Republican Governor George Ryan to impose a moratorium on the Illinois death penalty until a panel could examine death penalty procedures.  You might recall that Ryan acted in response to evidence that Illinois had exonerated more "death row" inmates (13) than it had executed (12).  Sounds like a damn good reason to put a hold on things and figure out what's going wrong with the system before, God forbid, executing an innocent person.

So why does Jerry Kilgore ridicule George Ryan's, Tim Kaine's, and millions of Americans concerns regarding the death penalty's flaws when he must know that these people have a point?  Could it be, perhaps, that Kilgore is doing this cynically and strategically?  Do Kilgore's words on this subject sound like they comes right out of the Scott "Black Hands" Howell playbook or what? 

In considering these questions, you might want to keep in mind at all times that Scott Howell and Jerry Kilgore are very smart and know EXACTLY what they're saying, EXACTLY who their "base" is, and EXACTLY who they're aiming their messages at.  In other words, even though these guys are morally bad, they're politically "good" in the "extremely effective" sense of the word.  When they use racial code language, be 100% certain that they are doing it on purpose.  Why would one assume otherwise, unless one thought that Howell and Kilgore were incompetent at politics, which they're certainly not. Also be certain, as Waldo Jaquith points out, that the Kilgore/Howell team will use such language in such a way as allows them a "plausible deniability" escape hatch.  ("Who, me?  Use racial code words?  Why, those crazy liberals are at it again -- there they go again!") 

Unfortunately for Scott Howell and Jerry Kilgore, people like Waldo Jaquith are onto them.  When listening to Jerry Kilgore speak -- if he ever gives you a chance, that is, or if the "mainstream media" ever does its job and provides the contextual background to understand what Howell and Kilgore are doing -- watch out for the following code language, as identified by Jaquith: "Black hands counting welfare dollars. Violent blacks. Uneducated urban Richmond kids. Plausible deniability."  I would also add a couple more: "my qualified kid can't get into UVA" and "my opponent claims the death penalty is racially biased."  Whenever you hear such language spewing from Jerry Kilgore's mouth, be certain that the "black hand" of Scott Howell is behind it.

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