- FAST FACTS:
- Factual errors found on Herenton website
- Wrong picture shown for Congressman John Duncan
- Mistakes have been corrected
tom.powell@wreg.com
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(MEMPHIS 02/16/2010) -- Former Mayor Willie Herenton appeared on WREG News Channel 3 Live at 9:00 earlier this month to announce his campaign against Incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen in the 9th Congressional District.
Herenton held up a piece of paper and asked, "What's wrong with this picture?" The paper showed the pictures of the all white Tennessee Congressional Delegation.
Herenton called for proportional representation. "If you look at this picture and you are African American, you sense a lack of representation," Herenton said. "If we don't elect diversity in the 9th Congressional District, it can't happen anywhere else."
Some said Herenton's argument was right on target, while others disagreed with him completely.
No matter where you stand politically or philosophically, there were a couple of things factually wrong with the paper Herenton held up during Live at 9:00.
The paper listed the United States Congressmen from Tennessee as "State Reps." That was the first mistake. The second mistake? The wrong picture appeared above Congressman John Duncan's name. Instead of a picture of Duncan, Herenton's paper showed a picture of Arizona Congressman John Shadegg from Arizona.
Shelby County Commissioner Sidney Chism, a strong supporter of the former mayor, dismissed the mistakes as inconsequential. "We don't have one African American in the State of Tennessee that's on that delegation, and we're asking for just a little bit of equity," he said. "You could pick anything out of the air and say the flyer is wrong, but the message is the same."
The mistakes have since been corrected on Herenton's website, www.herentonforcongress2010.com.
