Bernard Parks Plays the Race Card

It was only a matter of time, but with the Devin Brown incident happening along with the incredible tensions between the candidates, the race card has been put into play by Bernard Parks in a much more public light than had previously been reported.

In today's LA Times:

Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Bernard C. Parks accused incumbent James K. Hahn on Friday of running a "racist campaign" against his opponent Antonio Villaraigosa in the 2001 mayoral runoff.

The allegation capped a week in which the police shooting of a 13-year-old African American boy in South Los Angeles on Sunday has pushed racial tensions to the forefront of the mayoral campaign.

Parks told reporters that candidates should not drive wedges between ethnic communities, adding: "That's why it was so devastating to see such a racist campaign last time ? that when we can equate writing a letter for a very innocent purpose to create a commercial where somebody's snorting cocaine. Now how do you jump to that conclusion without a stereotype that a minority is more apt to be involved with drugs than a majority?"

Asked if he was specifically calling Hahn's TV ad "racist," Parks responded: "It was. No doubt." By raising the subject of Villaraigosa's letter to the White House and showing "lines of cocaine in a dark room" in an ad about "a minority Hispanic candidate, you are sending that message," Parks said.

Kam Kuwata, Hahn's senior campaign advisor, said there was "nothing racist" in the television ad.

"Show me the racism," Kuwata said.

So much for the positive campaign...