helping mostly whites and the rich...
http://www.redandblack.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/10/01/3f7a4e1042438
News
State senator: Gov. Perdue's HOPE proposal caters to whites, rich
By MATT BARNWELL
Published , October 01, 2003, 06:00:01 AM EDT
A state legislator Tuesday afternoon called Gov. Sonny Perdue the most
racially divisive governor since Lester Maddox.
State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) drew the comparison at the
beginning of an Atlanta news conference, citing Perdue's Friday
request to state officials that SAT scores be made a factor in
distributing dwindling HOPE scholarship monies.
Maddox was governor of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. He drew notoriety in
1964 after brandishing a pistol while refusing to allow three
activists to integrate his restaurant near Georgia Tech.
"Gov. Perdue ran a racist campaign," Fort said in an Associated Press
article. "I'm not saying that he is a racist ... (but) he took
advantage of racial divisions to become governor."
Fort pointed to Perdue's campaign on the state flag bearing the St.
Andrew's cross and his removal of black department heads.
Rep. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta) and Rep. Douglas Dean (D-Atlanta) also
participated in the news conference.
"When we were notified that the (HOPE) program was in trouble, the
governor said we ought to support those programs that deal with kids
who come to college ready," Dean said in the article. "We know what
the governor was saying -- that we ought to cater to the rich, that we
ought to cater to the white community."
Derrick Dickey, a spokesman in Perdue's office, told The Red & Black
Tuesday that the comments made by the state legislators were
"ridiculous."
"The governor does not respond to transparently political and totally
ludicrous comments made by state senators trying to regain their
committee chairmanships," he said.
Tracey Ford, administrative director for the University's Office of
Institutional Diversity, said she had not yet seen the legislators'
statements and felt uncomfortable commenting on the legitimacy of the
comparison.
However, she noted many studies indicate SAT scores are most closely
connected to the prosperity of a student's family and the difficulty
of their high school curriculum.
"It's more tied to income than it is to the racial issue," she said.
Charles Bullock, a professor in the School of Public and International
Affairs, called the comparison "a fairly inflammatory kind of
statement."
"By casting it in those terms, they knew it would catch people's
attention," he said. "It evokes a response, but it also devalues the
comparison."
Bullock noted that Maddox made openly racist remarks before being
elected governor.
"It's a far different category of behavior," he said.
-- Contributing: The Associated Press
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