- FAST FACTS:
- Herenton Calls for Proportional Representation
- Says the 9th District Should have a Black Representative
- Professors Suggest Voters Will Look Beyond Race
tom.powell@wreg.com
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(MEMPHIS 2/04/2010) -- Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton appeared exclusively on WREG News Channel 3's Live at 9 Thursday. During his interview about the upcoming race against Incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen, Herenton made it clear, race will be an issue in the campaign.
Herenton tried to illustrate his point, by bringing copies of a paper showing the members of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation. The paper has the following question at the top of the page: "What's wrong with this picture?"
"If you look at this picture and you are African American, you sense a lack of representation," Herenton says.
Herenton points out all members of the delegation are white. He suggests since the 9th Congressional District is majority African American, the district should have an African American Congressman.
"If we don't elect diversity in the 9th Congressional District, it can't happen anywhere else," says Herenton.
Congressman Steve Cohen says he is busy working for his district, and didn't respond to Herenton's comments Thursday.
Cohen did respond to the issue of race back in 2007, months after he was elected. "It was very difficult to have to endure what were basically political efforts to defeat me, not based on my positions, but simply because of my race," he said.
So how will voters handle the issue of race in the upcoming election? Will race be a deciding factor?
"If you can't deliver the goods, that's the real issue," says LeMoyne Owen College Professor Dr. Meade Walker. "We are beginning to see a trend nationally where the voters are becoming more sophisticated."
He says, by already electing Cohen twice, voters in the district have proven they can look beyond race. "We've got to get serious about the issues," says Dr. Walker. "Now on the other side of the coin in Tennessee, has the white voter become sophisticated enough to cross the racial barrier? That remains to be seen."
Professor Stephen Wirls, who teaches Political Science at Rhodes, says if Herenton truly believes the key is proportional representation, then perhaps he should be pushing for a female candidate to represent the 9th Congressional District, since the district is more than 50-percent female.
Herenton's interview Thursday may be an indication that we're in for a summer of heated political debate centered around the issue of race.
"I hope we will have a peaceful and harmonious election," says Dr. Walker.
"What are the chances of that?" We asked.
"Slim to none," he said with a smile. "But nevertheless you can still hope."
