OttawaHerald.com -- Community News. Community Connections.

	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

Subscriber Services Home Delivery Gift Subscription Stop-Start Delivery Missing Paper Back Issues Newsstand Locations Shopper Locations

Advertising Services Manage Your Account Place a Classified Ad Place a Display Ad Advertise Online Business Finder Directory

Other Services Submit News Laminated Items Photos & Keepsakes Article Archives Contact Us History of the Herald Our Policies

Suggest a poll topic

2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Friday, August 28, 2009 10:13 PM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutheland/The Ottawa Herald

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., fields questions from the public Thursday about health care reform during a speaking stop at the Franklin County Office Annex. About 150 residents turned out for the public meeting.

‘Great white hope’ claim may contradict record

By TOMMY FELTS and VICKIE MOSS, Of The Herald Staff

The controversy surrounding U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins’ disclaiming of the phrase “great white hope” came less than a month after she had supported a resolution referencing that same phrase.

Jenkins, R-Kan., said Thursday she didn’t know “great white hope” had a negative connotation when she recently used the phrase to describe Republicans’ search for a new leader.

However, the freshman lawmaker supported a resolution that included that exact phrase last month when the House approved by unanimous consent a measure urging President Obama to pardon black U.S. boxer Jack Johnson. Johnson, who died in 1946. He was the target of an early 1900s racist plot and convicted in 1913 of transporting a white woman across state lines for immoral reasons.

Within the resolution passed by the House July 29 was a passage that read, “Whereas the victory by Jack Johnson over Tommy Burns prompted a search for a White boxer who could beat Jack Johnson, a recruitment effort that was dubbed the search for the ‘great white hope.’”

The controversial phrase, now cliche to some, was a key point in the story of Johnson, the first black American to earn the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World.

Jenkins, in Ottawa Thursday for a town hall forum on health care, told reporters she was unaware of this history after critics accused her of using racially charged language to rally support against Obama.

But Mary Geiger, Jenkins’ press secretary, told The Herald Friday the Kansas lawmaker supported the resolution to pardon Johnson.

The measure was passed by a voice vote, and congressional records do not indicate how or whether Jenkins cast her vote because it was not a roll call vote. However, records show the Kansas lawmaker was present for and voted on seven of seven other measures that day.

Jenkins apologized for the “great white hope” comment after a Democratic Party supporter, who shot a video last week of the lawmaker at a Hiawatha forum, shared her remarks with the state party.

“Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope,” Jenkins said at the Hiawatha forum. “I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington.”

She explained this week she was talking about the future leadership of the Republican Party and said she was referring to “some bright lights and some hope” within the party.

Geiger indicated Jenkins’ Aug. 19 comments and subsequent explanation do not conflict with her knowledge and support of Johnson’s pardon.

“As the Congresswoman said, she was not aware of the play of any other meaning for the term than as how she intended it — to refer to bright young leaders in the Republican Party in the House of Representatives,” Geiger told The Herald.

Geiger also confirmed Jenkins’ Pittsburg office received a death threat Thursday. The incident was reported to local and federal authorities, she said.

“Congresswoman Jenkins has eight more town hall events planned next week, and she is not going to let anyone stop her from continuing to communicate with Kansans and listen to their concerns,” Geiger said.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

‘Great white hope’ claim may contradict record

By TOMMY FELTS and VICKIE MOSS, Of The Herald Staff

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.