The white world of politics in Kentucky
Today's Lexington Herald-Leader included a strong piece analyzing racial disparity in Kentucky, particularly in terms of representation in government. Visit the Herald-Leader's Bluegrass Politics Blog here for the full story.
"...8 percent of Kentucky’s population is black. This is a world where people are more conscious of racial discrimination in jobs and housing, of higher rates of poverty, unemployment, inadequate education and prison incarceration for blacks."
This is where black visitors aren’t welcome in all private establishments. For example, the Kentucky Human Rights Commission in 2008 settled a complaint with an American Legion post in Franklin after it refused to allow a black television repairman onto the premises. Under the terms of the settlement, the post paid the repairman $6,500 and agreed to civil-rights compliance training."
Kentucky politicians don’t address race because they don’t think they need to, said University of Kentucky historian Gerald Smith, who writes and teaches about black life in the state."
Ninety percent of Kentucky is white, and especially in rural areas, whites tend to have limited contact with people of other races, Smith said. Kentuckians often aren’t so much racist as racially oblivious, Smith said."
"There are many places in Kentucky where you can live and work and not ever see black people at all. The closest to black people they’re going to get is watching UK basketball on television,†Smith said."
Smith said he wasn’t surprised that Paul’s criticism of the Civil Rights Act did him little harm in Kentucky. A Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll in May found that one-third of Kentucky voters agreed with Paul, that businesses should get to decide whether to serve customers of different races.
"There are things that political candidates can say and do here in Kentucky that just wouldn’t fly in other parts of the country,†Smith said. "And at the same time, there are things they don’t have to say or do.â€
"People who say they don’t think about racism simply aren’t confronted with it. But our elected officials should represent everyone. I realize that people don’t want to discuss racism, but we can’t just keep sticking our heads in the sand.†- John Johnson, Kentucky Human Rights Commission
Visit the Herald-Leader's Bluegrass Politics Blog here for the full story.
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