Jim Hahn: Black Like Me
Lee Watters writing at LA Voice has a great piece on Jim Hahn's effort to reach the Black community as he watches his poll numbers drop amongst African American voters. Still running on his daddy's record, Jimmy K. Hahn is working to remind Black folk that he's been there for them. The Mayor even goes as far as to send out a mailer with a 1963 photo of Daddy Hahn standing next to Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. To be sure, Kenneth Hahn showed remarable leadership and courage for a white politician of his time to stand up for the Black community (he was the only elected official to show up to meet Rev. King when arriving at LAX for a west coast visit).
Its an insult to the intelligence of all voters for the Mayor to make such a shameful, emotional appeal targeted at elderly African American voters. We are sure that while they are grateful for the blessings of the father, they don't pardon the sins of the son.
Its an insult to the intelligence of all voters for the Mayor to make such a shameful, emotional appeal targeted at elderly African American voters. We are sure that while they are grateful for the blessings of the father, they don't pardon the sins of the son.
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 5/09/2005 10:31:00 AM
22 Comments:
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUA Mayor Sam. When you posts these negative articles you make us Hahn supporters very confident that the ADV lovers are running scared. Could it possibly be cause those media negative stories will be coming out this week? Mayor Sam I sure hope you're getting paid enough from ADVs campaign. You are the only website that has taken the low road and consistently been negative to one candidate. How sad
Great story in CityBeat on race
When Oreatha Hensley walked precincts for mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa in 2001, she could barely engage her African-American neighbors in conversation about the candidate……..four years later, Hensley is walking for Villaraigosa again, but this go-round is different. “People are willing to listen this time,” she says. They also tell Hensley, an African-American and a South L.A. resident for 35 years, what’s on their minds. “‘These Mexicans’ – that’s the word people use – ‘take care of their own,’” she paraphrases.…….A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California shows the majority of white and African-American respondents worrying that Villaraigosa will make “Latino issues” his priority, notes Jaime Regalado, of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A. “It’s been a black and white world, and suddenly they have to contend with brown,” observes Regalado
Anthony Thigpenn has been an organizer in South Los Angeles for some 25 years and worked with Villaraigosa years ago….He also acknowledges anxiety among African-American voters about a Latino candidate, rooted in the long history of black people being “last hired and first fired” and displaced by other groups. “The real question, besides whether African-Americans will vote for a Latino candidate, is even if they’re persuaded they should vote for him, will they turn out to vote?”
Jimmy Hahn has lost the confidence of his core support group.
His pandering to Republicans and Mexican Americans is disgusting.
Those who know him best, those who were there as he was growing up at the feet of a great man, have lost faith. Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, Maxine Waters, Bernard Parks, Magic JOhnson, Herb Wesson. Can they all be wrong about Jimmy?
I don't think so.
The Valley is not solid for him, The two major papers are against him, the leaders of the homeowners groups and many elected, including Republicans are against him, and this blog is against him.
How can he win?
Only by dragging his opponent into the gutter with him.
The next nine days will be sheer ugliness.
I'd rather be sitting in the front row of a Gallagher show or a prize fight. I'd get less blood and trash on me.
I'm just staying off the Third Floor; I'm tired of running into people looking for jobs.
In addition to sending out resumes, they are cornering people and begging for help looking for jobs. It is pitiful.
Politics is a full body contact sport. Losing is Hell.
Spin like hell, fact is Kenny would be proud of his son for moving the city forward, and holding back the baseless attacks of a rabid, divisive, promise-breaker like ADV. His father had to deal with conmen like that, too. Bring them to the table, but don'e let them run the meeting...
Daddy Hahn could give as good as he got, too. That earned him respect in more than just the Black community. If he were alive and fit, he'd be stumping next to Jim Hahn, and beaming with pride.
Kenneth Hahn was about serving the people, Jim Hahn has -- but ADV only serves himself.
poster states...Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, Maxine Waters, Bernard Parks, Magic JOhnson, Herb Wesson. Can they all be wrong about Jimmy?
Burke and her loser husband allowed King/Drew deteroriate in a community that needs it most. Parks is the most corrupt ex-police chief in history. He promoted Deputy Chief Moore knowing the FBI and IRS was investigating him and his son for money laundering. Magic Johnson had no other reason to endorse Antonio but to say He was mad at Hahn for the way he dismissed Parks and rightly so. Maxine Waters is a witch on wheels. She's an out of control pms'ing clown who embarrassed herself during the whole Parks dismissal in front of media. She wrote letters supporting gangster rappers like Surge KNight who did federal time. She thinks its ok to call mothers and girlfriends "bitches and whores" cause she says its freedom of speech. Yes, these are all great endorsements.
You can knock the endorsements, and also the preachers that support Antonio, but Hahn would give one of his arms for them.
Let's tell the truth about the whole Bernie Parks thing. Chief Parks was a friend of the Hahn family (He used to drive for his father) and he advanced his career in large part because of mentoring and help he got from Supervisor Hahn. Many of his closest friends were also very close to Mayor Hahn.
When Jim Hahn decided he had to fire Bernie Parks (after reading confidential files that only the Mayor is allowed to see) he didn't discuss the issue with his closest advisors because HE HAD ALREADY MADE UP HIS MIND.
Maxine Waters and other people who were close to both Hahn and Parks thought they were being dissed and have opposed Hahn in this election giving Villaraigosa a huge boost. But no one seriously claims that Jim Hahn doesn't have an outstanding record on African American issues.
From appointing more black deputy mayors than any mayor in history, to lowering the crime rate, to starting new more neighborhood watch programs in South Central than any other Mayor, to funding after school sports programs at inner city schools, to doubling the number of libraries in South Central from before he was Mayor, Jim Hahn has been champion for that community and the people realize it.
People also realize that there have been some personality conflicts because of the Parks issue. This caused some hesitation and hurt Hahn in the primary. But if you really think Antonio is going to win South Central in the runoff, you are kidding yourself. With only two candidates in the race, voters are focusing and African Americans are coming home to the candidate with the record, not the one with the promises.
Whack, whack, whack.
If only Jimmy could wax that eloquently, perhaps he'd stand a chance.
But, the Ministers are with Antonio, and this coming Sunday, Jimmy will see for himself what he has done to himself. All the celebrity endorsements and the Ministers will be brought to bear on Sunday morning. It will not be fun for Jimmy.
Forgiveness is for the Lord; these are mere mortals who will neither forgive nor forget that Jimmy dissed an entire culture.
Jimmy needs a modern day miracle and it is not coming yet...
You may think that the good ministers in the choich can deliver up their flock for the slaughter, but it doesn't work that way anymore, if it ever did. People in South Central like voters throughout Los Angeles understand that both candidates have records going back twenty or more years and they will be judged on their entire record, not just one or two incidents. Jim Hahn will not be judged by voters in the Valley just by how he opposed secession, but also by what he has done for their community as Mayor and Villaraigosa will be judged by what he did in the State Assembly and on the City Council. They will also not be judged in South Central just by the Bernie Parks issue and that is why Hahn is gaining so many votes down there. Voters may admire and respect Maxine Waters, but Jim Hahn is not an unknown quantity. Voters know Jim Hahn's record and they will not follow Maxine blindly because she took the Parks thing as disrespect. They will make a judgement for themselves.
I know all blacks look alike but it was Gilbert Lindsey not Bernard Parks who drove Kenneth Hahn and had a strong relationship with the family. To the last poster you're about a foot in height off and 30 years wrong. By my calculations, Parks would have been a teen at the time Lindsey and the elder Hahn were working together. The Hahns and the Parks' have never been particularly strong allies. They are two very different cliques.
And, what confidential files are you talking about? Is Parks somehow affiliated with the mafia? Did Bobbie use astrology to steer his political career. Is Bernard, Jr. a hip hop gangsta'? I think you guys are making a little bit too much out of their family. There are far too many conspiracy theorists on this blog.
The majority of city agreed with Hahn getting rid of Bernie. Let's face it we lost 1,000 officers and does anyone really understand how that hurt LAPD and the city? IF all these black reverends are voting for Antonio just because Hahn did the right thing for the welfare of the city, and they can't seem to move on, then they are not people who should be preaching the word of GOD. They seem to have more vindictivness, anger towards a man who cared about their community. Parks NEVER went into the black community the way Hahn and Bratton have. PARKS never tried to smooth things over with the blacks when something went down with LAPD. Some blacks have critizized PARKS for being too white. It amazes me the mentality of some people. Antonio is getting votes not for his leadership, vision etc. Because they're mad at Hahn. Go figure!!!!
First of all, the majority of the city did not agree with Hahn's actions against Parks. It was about 50-50. But, strangely enough, Parks' approval rating was higher than Hahn's at the time he was trying to push him out of the door. You are an idiot, if you think Parks has never been in the black community. Where the hell did all of his votes come from? Read the story in the Times. Although Jimmy grew up in South L.A., he did not associate with the people there. As for Bratton, he was referred to as Wyatt Earp during Devin Brown's funeral. The audience gave a roaring applause. And, again, what does acting white mean? Because Parks is articulate and smart, is he acting too white? Should he throw in some ebonics? Hey, last poster, when's the next Klan, er, PPL meeting?
And, how did God get into this? The reverends just like anybody else, have the right to endorse or vote for anyone they want for any reason, just like you. To many, the Parks decision is enough to send Jimmy packing. And I hope it works. RIP Jimmy.
First, Bernard Parks also used to drive for Kenneth Hahn as Gil Lindsay did before him. As to thinking all blacks look alike, do you really believe the white establishment that runs this city would have let a person of color rise to the top without some caucasians making the fight for him?
The Hahn's were among several major people who helped Parks get his foot in the door in Los Angeles politics and may have done more than anyone else and Parks knows it. They supported and mentored him the whole way up in his rise to police chief and that is not a secret.
As for confidential files, the Mayor stated when he fired Parks that a part of his reason for doing so came in information he read in confidential personnel files that were not available to him until he became Mayor. I would assume that he was talking about individual disciplinary cases, but I don't know, because he did not release the information. (I guess because the files were confidential).
Because no one can challenge the decision itself since a lot of the information used was not in the public domain, several very upset political leaders who were close to both Jim Hahn and Bernard Parks (I.E. Maxine Waters) have claimed that they felt betrayed when the firing was not discussed with them. Maxine had asked for the chance to talk with the Mayor which she did when both of them were at the Super Bowl that year, but she thought she was entitled to more. Others didn't even get the chance to make their case. Why? Because Jim Hahn knew he had made a decision and didn't want to spend his time going through tough arguments with friends when he couldn't give a lot of the reasons behind the decision. He simply went ahead and pulled the trigger. Was that the right thing to do? I don't know, but I certainly think it was understandable.
But to be fair, let us remember that Jim Hahn's political rise was precisely because of his following in the black community. These people put him in office because they thought they would have input in his important decisions as they had throughout his career. When he didn't consult with major African American leaders, they felt disrespected and that's a real sensitive thing for African American elected officials. Some people more cynical than I am have also speculated that they thought it was time to start building bridges to the growing latino community in their districts.
I think they overreacted and that is shown by the fact that so many African American voters that normally follow their lead have been coming back to Hahn (as shown by every poll in the race). Jim Hahn not only has a great record on African American issues, he has always spent a lot of time in the community at social events and such.
Beyond that, he has been quick to stand up on issues that other politicians hesitated on, often when their was no political benefit. For example, many years ago Banning High School canceled a football game against Dorsey saying it was unsafe to play at Dorsey because they had received gang threats. Most politicians were afraid to say anything because they didn't know how public opinion would shake out. Jim Hahn was possibly the first to speak up and said he had been at Dorsey himself within the last week and thought it was perfectly safe, but that he would also encourage the police chief to use as many officers as necessary to make sure the game could be safely played because to fail to do so would be to let the community be held hostage by hoodlums. A gutsy thing to say and do.
But precisely because Jim Hahn has been there on literally hundreds of issues of concern to the black community, they are going to be there for him next week on election day.
One other comment on the L.A. Times article from last week. The Times has always hated Jim Hahn and they have never supported him in any competitive race. In fact their coverage of Hahn's races for District Attorney were used as an example by a professor at Fordham University of how newspapers would try and subtly influence elections while appearing to be nonpartisan.
As for Jim Hahn not hanging out with the people of South Central, his record is well enough known that the comment is laughable. But the best answer would be to look at a Los Angeles Times story from right before his first election for District Attorney when one of his neighbors praised his father for not moving when the neighborhood changed and praised his son for always staying close to the people in that community. You would think before the Times wrote a story, they would at least read what they had written in the past.
I should also add that contrary to the impression that was left in the story, the area Hahn grew up in was very rough, in fact it was much rougher than the hill above La Cienega where most of our current black elected officials call home. Hahn represents the community well because he is from it and knows their struggles.
First of all, just because the hill you refer to(Baldwin Hills) is where a lot of black officials live now, doesn't mean they grew up there. In fact, until the late 60's there were ordinances that forbid them to live in those areas.
Second of all, BERNARD PARKS NEVER DROVE FOR KENNY HAHN.
Third of all: THE HAHNS HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH PARKS' SUCCESS.
I told you they are from very different cliques. Most of Parks'accomplishments were due in part to people within the department, including Chief Ed Davis. Besides that, his rise through the department mostly had to do with him and his family. A pretty remarkable accomplishment considering what he went through as a black cop in the 60's. The bio on Parks in the Times said nothing about his relationship with the Hahns because there, simply, wasn't one.
Blacks did not vote for Hahn because of his great accomplishments in South L.A. They voted for him because he was Kenny's son. When he ousted Parks, the black community felt betrayed and also felt that Hahn thought he was a more prominent member of the black community than Parks was. A big mistake. And, South L.A. has been proving him wrong ever since. Do you hear him get booed every year at the MLK parade? Though some black voters may go back to Hahn, he will not enjoy the same 80% support of African Americans that he had in the last election.
He needed that to win. Parks screwed him. All AV has to do is come close in South L.A. Congratulations Antonio!
As to the Baldwin Hills comment, my point was that a majority of black elected officials (not a large majority, but a majority) grew up in better circumstances than average African Americans. That is for many of them a part of how they got ahead.
As for Bernie Parks, he was assigned as a driver for Supervisor Hahn shortly after joining the Department. He was already known by the Hahn family because he was a Pepperdine Grad (also where Parks originally knew Yvonne Burke from). Shortly after he started, Kenny Hahn steered him to another job, but they stayed in touch and all of the Hahn's including brother Gordon helped Bernie Parks on the rise up.
There were some people who claimed they had a falling our shortly before Jim Hahn became Mayor and a few people who believe that Hahn sold out his friend to get the Police Union endorsement, but even though it's not talked about much, every black elected official knows they were once friends.
As for the Times biography, to show you how much they missed, you will find that they list Park's family, but don't mention his stepson Kevin who attended Crossroads High School in Santa Monica. They also missed a lot of other things including Parks closeness to Ed Davis and Zev Yaroslavsky among others. But as to his relationship with Jim Hahn it was closer than either of those ties, neither person talks about it much, because it doesn't matter, but it is well known.
You don't know what the hell you're talking about. Since when has the city ever loaned an L.A.P.D. officer to drive for a County official? Parks' father drove for an elected official... but it wasn't Hahn. Parks doesn't even know Gordon Hahn. How old do you think Parks is anyway? I can't make it any clearer. THEY WERE NEVER FRIENDS... THERE IS/WAS NO RELATIONSHIP!!!!
After May 17th you should ask Hahn. He should have a lot of free time on his hands by then.
P.S. BTW What's your point? And, what does his stepson have to do with anything??
The Dailey News story on Hahn and Parks meeting after the primary mentions the fact that Parks used to work for Hahn's father as a reason for Hahn to hope that he could at least move him to a neutral position.
On the L.A. Times piece, you used the fact that the Times never mentioned this fact as evidence it didn't happen. Since I didn't have the Daily News in front of me at the time, I wanted to use the failure to mention the stepson as an example of how lazy and inefficient the Times reporter was. Not that anyone shouldn't know that already.
If the Daily News said that, they're absolutely wrong. Check it out. It just doesn't make any sense. The LAPD would never loan an officer to work for a County Supervisor. It just never happened.
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