GOP 'hate tour' remarks attacked

By JULIE HAUSERMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 23, 2000

TALLAHASSEE -- A prominent African-American minister blasted the Florida Republican Party this week, accusing its chairman of making "racist statements" and showing "unparalleled insensitivity" toward black people.

The Rev. Ernest Ferrell, who is head of the 40,000-member Florida State Primitive Baptist Convention, says that Republican Party Chairman Al Cardenas should not have used the term "hate tour" to describe a new statewide voter drive to bring more women and minorities to the polls.

The "Save Florida: Arrive with Five" voter drive is being led by Rep. Tony Hill and Sen. Kendrick Meek, two black Democrats who held a sit-in at the governor's office this spring to protest a Republican affirmative action overhaul. It's an effort to get people to turn out and vote with five others Nov. 7.

"Mr. Cardenas' characterization of a plan to promote voter participation among minorities and women as a "hate tour' is a slap in the face to these groups," Ferrell wrote in a sharply worded letter to Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday.

Cardenas called the voter drive a "hate tour" in a news release put out by the Republican Party of Florida on Monday, a day when many African-Americans hold celebrations marking the end of slavery in the United States.

"Mr. Cardenas' statement shows an unparalleled insensitivity and, unfortunately, that the fire of misunderstanding and hatred still rages on," wrote Ferrell, who also is the head of the Tallahassee Urban League. "Hate, Governor Bush, is the kind of thing that can lead to bombing of Florida A&M University. Hate led to the dragging death of James Byrd Jr. . . . Today, I call on you and the Republican Party of Florida to rebuke the hateful and racist statements of Chairman Cardenas."

Bush spokeswoman Elizabeth Hirst would not comment.

Jamie Wilson, the Florida Republican Party's executive director, issued a typed news release that avoided the issue altogether.

"The Save Florida Tour is a line up of the who's who of liberal causes . . . a transparent attempt to mask an extreme-liberal Democratic agenda. That is why they should come forward immediately to disclose the source of the Save Florida funds."

"That statement doesn't even address the hate-speech by Al Cardenas," said Tony Welch, spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party.

Meek said the voter drive is financed by the Coalition of Conscience, a group that sponsored a March 7 civil rights march that drew 10,000 protesters to Tallahassee. It includes groups such as People for the American Way and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Meek, who was on the road talking to voters Thursday.

"Basically, we're doing "get out the vote' efforts, which people have done for umpteen years," Meek said from Gainesville. "We're not telling them who to vote for -- just get out and vote."

"I know one thing: All Republicans don't feel the way Mr. Cardenas feels," he said.

Cardenas could be reached for comment.

"I don't understand how he could call this some kind of hate group," Ferrell said.

The dispute comes at a time when both major political parties are working to woo African-American voters. Florida Democrats want to hold onto their traditional base of minority voters. They have been trying to portray Bush as insensitive to blacks by attacking his "One Florida" initiative, which overhauls the state's affirmative action policies.

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