* The time off from work was going swimmingly until I made the mistake of checking the Intertubes this afternoon…
A black Hillary Clinton delegate on Sunday accused state Senate President Emil Jones of calling her an “Uncle Tom.”
Jones — Barack Obama’s political mentor — denied using the racially loaded slur against Chicago political consultant Delmarie Cobb, but two aldermen who said they witnessed the Saturday night exchange back up Cobb’s account.
“Last night, I was called an ‘Uncle Tom’ by Emil Jones in the lobby of the hotel, right in front of [Ald.] Freddrenna Lyle and [Ald.] Leslie Hairston and [Ald.] Latasha Thomas,” said Cobb, a member of Clinton’s Illinois Steering Committee. “I walked over to him and asked him, ‘What did you just call me?’ ” […]
Lyle, alderman of the South Side’s 6th Ward, said she was standing with Jones when the conversation took place in the lobby of the hotel where the Illinois delegation is staying, but she dismissed it as Jones engaging in harmless banter with someone he knows, although Lyle said she told him, “Emil, that’s bad even for you.”
* And then today…
The chief of Illinois’ National Organization for Women chapter today called on Barack Obama’s “political godfather” to resign immediately from the Illinois state Senate for calling an African-American Hillary Clinton delegate an “Uncle Tom.”
“That was a pretty horrible comment,” said Illinois NOW president Bonnie Grabenhofer, also a Clinton delegate, who issued the demand for Senate President Emil Jones’ resignation. […]
“I’ve never heard anything as awful or as sexist or as racist as to call her that for supporting Hillary,” said Clinton delegate Gay Bruhn, another NOW member in Illinois who called for a public apology from Jones.
* Larry believes this doesn’t sound like something Emil Jones would say.
I beg to differ. Jones has often referred to African-American Illinois House members as “House n—-rs” for following House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is white, instead of doing what Jones believes is right for the black community.
Larry does make this point, however…
What is missing is that Bruhn isn’t just another NOW member, she’s [Illinois NOW president Bonnie Grabenhofer’s] partner. That would be mentioned in any story referring to a heterosexual couple. So the story misses the context and treats same sex couples differently.
* Patterson interviewed Delmarie Cobb and it’s clear that she is not exactly an unbiased source…
“So when I tell that story he comes over to me and he said, ‘There were 35,000 in Springfield (for Obama’s introduction of vice presidential pick Joe Biden) 35,000 people in Springfield’
“I said, ‘Well that doesn’t mean anything, just that 35,000 more people drank the Kool-Aid.’
“I said, ‘See, he will not let this alone.’ I said, ‘What are you signifying.’
“He said, ‘I’m not signifying.’
“I said, ‘Oh, they’ve got another name for it now?’
“I said, ‘Why can’t you be gracious in victory as I am gracious in defeat?’” [emphasis added]
* Even so, there are apparently witnesses besides Ald. Lyle…
Cobb and at least two Chicago aldermen told friends that Jones made the “Uncle Tom” reference after a back-and-forth with the Senate president that started lightheartedly.
* And I doubt all of them could have misheard Jones…
Jones, himself an African-American, maintained Delmarie Cobb, a longtime Chicago public relations executive, misunderstood a comment in which he said it was time for those who continue to back the New York senator and former first lady to stop being “Doubting Thomases” and rally around Obama.
“She walked away and I said, ‘All you Doubting Thomases have to get on board,” Jones said of his discussion with Cobb over the weekend. “She turned around and said, ‘You called us?’ and I said, ‘No. That’s not so.’ I thought it was all over with. She just caught the last word of what I said. People make mistakes.”
* Check out some video here.
* Related…
* Obama unfamiliar with Jones’ alleged comment
* Obama team wants to smother diehard Clinton backers with respect
* Durbin: Feuding State Dems owe it to Obama to lay low
* Mayor Daley on message
* Illinois In Spotlight As Dem Convention Kicks Off