Sunday, February 27, 2011
State Rep. Robert F. Hagan was subdued as he talked about the fallout from his recent Facebook faux pas.
“I’m being beaten up,” by the folks in southern Ohio, the veteran Youngstown politician said, referring to his use of the name “Buckwheat” during an exchange on the web.
Hagan, a Democrat who has served in the House, the Senate and again in the House, is upset that he is being labeled a racist by people who don’t know him.
And, while not admitting it, he undoubtedly is worried that this controversy will follow him to his bid for mayor of Youngstown — should he decide to run. In 2005, Hagan was the Democratic Party nominee for mayor, but lost to political newcomer, Jay Williams, who ran as an independent. Williams became the first black mayor in the history of the city, and the first independent to win in more than 80 years. He is in his second four-year term, which expires 2013.
Black vote
With Youngstown’s population almost evenly divided along racial lines, the black vote is important, especially if there are several white candidates.
But all that aside, the question that’s baffling those who have followed Hagan’s career is this: Why would someone with proven political instincts allow himself to drawn into a discussion on Facebook with individuals who mean nothing to him, don’t live in this area and are obviously as conservative as he is liberal?
Hagan let his passion get the better of him, and is now paying the price of indulging in the kind of banter that has brought down many an officeholder.
He concedes that use of the word “buckwheat,” while colloquial in parts of the country, was ill-advised. However, he insists that it was not meant to convey a racist insult.
In fact, he said he was responding to a post from one of the women involved in the conversation when he used the word. The woman, however, says there was a black man also participating in the online chatter and was the target of Hagan’s derision.
The legislator can be accused of many things, such as his blind loyalty to organized labor, but being a racist isn’t one of them.
But as he well knows, in politics, perception is reality.
And the perception now, at least among some in Youngstown’s black community, is that his judgment is suspect.
A year ago, Hagan was involved in an altercation with a black man in a restaurant in downtown Youngstown.
Thirty-year-old Dorian Thomas of Youngstown pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor assault charge for slugging Hagan, knocking him unconscious.
Thomas had originally been charged with felonious assault but pleaded to the lesser count. He was sentenced to one year of probation and fined $100.
Hagan was in court on the day of the sentencing and accepted Thomas’ apology. The two shook hands.
In relating what took place that fateful night, Hagan says Thomas asked him to step out of the way of his view of belly dancers on the restaurant’s stage and taunted him with offensive language. When Hagan told him to back off, the lawmaker got slugged unconscious and needed 11 stitches to close a cut chin.
While the incident got some laughs from Hagan’s colleagues, many blacks in Youngstown weren’t amused.
Likewise, his use of the name “Buckwheat” may trigger some guffaws from folks who think it’s hilarious that Mr. Liberal is being branded a racist.
But, for a segment of the electorate in Youngstown, his faux pas isn’t going to be easily forgotten.
A Google search of “the name” revealed these two entries:
In 2007, Louisiana State Rep. Carla Dartez, a Democrat, came under fire from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for calling one of her female volunteers “Buckwheat.” The local chapter of the NAACP threw its support behind her Republican opponent, Joe Harrison, who won the Nov. 17, 2007, run-off election.
Republican attack
And last year, during a speech to Broward County Republicans against the pending health care reform bill, Corey Poitier, a Republican candidate running for U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek’s seat, addressed President Barack Obama by saying, “Listen up, Buckwheat …”
There’s no indication that Hagan’s critics were as offended by the GOPer’s attack on the Democratic president.
Such political hypocrisy, Buckwheat.