Kinky Friedman criticized for Katrina comments
AUSTIN — A Houston-area lawmaker said today 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 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.”
Memo to Rep. Thompson: GET OVER YOURSELF ALREADY. I’m sick to death of “leaders” in the African-American community who are so hyper-sensitive that they can manage to find racial prejudice and insensitivity anywhere at any time…even if they have to make it up out of whole cloth. ‘Cuz nothing gets your face in front of a TV news camera faster than poorly-manufactured faux indignation.
Let’s take a closer look at Friedman’s comments, shall we? Unless I’m missing something here, nowhere did Friedman talk about “African-American crackheads and thugs”. Or is Rep. Thompson trying to create an African-American monopoly and trademark on “crackheads and thugs”? Friedman’s comment was, from where I sit, pretty well spot-on. Who commits crimes? Well, “thugs” might be close to the truth. And what sparks much of crime today? Well, ask any policeman, and they’ll probably tell you that drugs head the list, hence the “crackheads”. So, what, really, is wrong with what Friedman said? There’s no racial tone to his remark, and I defy Rep. Thompson or anyone else to find one. Of course, why work hard to find one when you can just make one up?
“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.”
And how, exactly, did Friedman demonstrate his “redneck tendenceies”? Does speaking the truth, even if uncomfortable and inconvenient to some, render one a “redneck”? If so, I’m in BIG trouble….
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 may have been a History major, but if my math holds up, I believe that’s somewhere between 20-25%. When it comes to crime, I’d say that this is significant. So…remind me again just what exactly is so wrong with Friedman’s comment?
Friedman, a comedian running as an independent in the four-way governor race, later said there were “some good people among the evacuees.”
This comment, while certainly understated, is true. In fact, most of the refugees are good people. Unfortunately, there are a few “crackheads and thugs”. This is hardly a secret; no doubt an undoubtedly relatively small number of people have tarnished the image of the entire diaspora.
There is nothing racially insensitive or inaccurate about anything Kinky Friedman said. Perhaps Rep. DUMB@$$ Thompson was becoming concerned because she hadn’t seen her face on the TV news for awhile, and she was afraid the media had forgotten who she was. Pity, because this is one DUMB@$$ who’s not afraid to make it up as she goes along.
