AUSTIN — A Houston-area lawmaker said Tuesday that she is "vehemently insulted" by independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman's derogatory comments about Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Friedman last week attributed a spike in Houston's crime rate to the "crackheads and thugs" who evacuated New Orleans.
He's not the one equating 'crackheads and thugs' with any racial group - it seems to me Ms. Thompson is the racist.
| Her mind did just seem to leap to a single race, didn't it? |
"He has demonstrated a total lack of human sensitivity," said state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. "The people of Katrina have lost everything and are suffering not only from the loss of loved ones, but the trauma of the event itself. What has precipitated from this tragedy is behavior that results from a disastrous event."
Friedman campaign spokeswoman Laura Stromberg said Friedman is "one of the most compassionate people I've ever met."
"The fact of the matter is Houston has seen a tremendous surge in crime ... we're talking about homicide jumping 20 percent and many of those are being linked to Katrina evacuees," Stromberg said. "Was he politically incorrect? Sure. But Kinky's not afraid of the truth. He will be honest at the risk of losing some popularity."
Houston police have reported that 59 of the 262 Houston murders between Jan. 1 and Aug. 26 involved Katrina evacuees, either as victims or suspects.
I don't get it - I thought Texans would stomp our thugs, but instead they're just sending them back to us.
"Kinky Friedman has called himself a 'compassionate redneck,' " said Thompson, chairwoman of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. "He would do well henceforth to highlight his compassion while de-emphasizing his redneck tendencies." |