Jennifer Foster: It’s hard being Davis – and that’s good for Alabama

It’s tough being Artur Davis. In the span of just over a week, Davis has taken hits for being black – and then, not black enough.

Davis’s Democratic gubernatorial rival Ron Sparks delivered the first blow.

Sparks has won multiple terms as the state’s agriculture commissioner based on his affable nature and his no-nonsense approach to problem-solving.

Almost.

Sparks disseminated a New York Observer article that called into question Davis’s electability given the presence of President Obama in the White House, Democrats in control of Congress and unemployment at 10 percent.

“Davis now finds himself far from being the darling of the New York press. Today’s New York Observer reminds the rest of the country what we have known for a long time here in Alabama: if we want a Democratic Governor, we can’t nominate Artur Davis,” Sparks campaign manager Justin Saia said in a news release.

And here I always thought it was a plus in Alabama for someone to NOT be the darling of the New York press.

Davis adviser Jessica Vanden Berg struck back, including an earlier Sparks quote for perspective:

“In his own words, Ron Sparks told a forum of the Over the Mountain Democrats that he was the better candidate because of ‘how Alabama is.’

“‘How Alabama is?’ ‘What we have known for a long time here in Alabama?’ ‘With Barack Obama in the White House?’ … The Sparks campaign is using veiled language in a desperate attempt to divide Democrats. It’s no different than the whisper campaign saying that Barack Obama was unelectable,” she wrote.

On the heels of that exchange, in a speech before the Congressional Black Caucus Wednesday, Jesse Jackson decried Davis’s vote two weeks ago against the health care legislation that passed the House by five votes.

“We even have blacks voting against the health care bill,” Jackson is reported to have said. “You can’t vote against health care and call yourself a black man.”

Jackson added that he wasn’t saying that black lawmakers must vote a certain way, only that they should vote the interests of the people in their districts.

With his statement, Jackson assumes that either that no white congressman represents constituents in poverty, or it’s OK for them to vote against “the interests of the people in their districts” because they’re white.

It’s interesting – and instructive! – don’t you think, that someone who has built a career supposedly on fighting for racial equality would draw racial lines on health care?

His racial identity questioned, his motives attacked, Davis reacted with customary class.

“Twenty-one years ago (Jackson) inspired the idea that a black politician would not be judged simply as a black leader. The best way to honor Rev. Jackson’s legacy is to decline to engage in an argument with him that begins and ends with race,” Davis said in a statement.

Artur Davis is staking out the practical ground on problem solving. He’s showing that he’s not afraid to buck the establishment if he doesn’t think the establishment has it right. Predictably, that’s ruffling some preening politicians’ feathers and making him plenty of high-profile enemies along the way.

That may not be good for Davis’s relations with his fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, but it bodes well for his gubernatorial bid – and it’s good for the people of
Alabama.

Jennifer Foster is a political enthusiast who lives in Auburn and writes a column for the Opelika-Auburn News. She can be reached at