New Hampshire Democrats are accused of racism by Andy Martin for rejecting Black candidate Ryan Terrell for the State Board of Education

U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin accuses New Hampshire Democrats of racism after three members of the party’s leadership voted against an African-American appointee to the State Board of Education. “I worked in Washington during the civil rights era and I know segregationist rhetoric when I see it,” Andy says. “The behavior of Jeanne Shaheen’s Democratic party is racist and an embarrassment to the entire state. I call on Shaheen to condemn the behavior of her supporters (Volinsky, Pignatelli) and to demand that Ryan Terrell be reconsidered and confirmed to the board. “I aim to make New Hampshire proud,” Andy says. “Shaheen’s supporters have disgraced the state.”

https://www.unionleader.com/news/politics/state/council-rejects-nomination-of-black-businessman-for-state-ed-board/article_b730d8ca-0c30-55c6-9e07-8b6ff5439e52.html?

ANDY MARTIN /2020         

Adjunct Professor of Law

Republican for U. S. Senator

New Hampshire

www.AndyMartin2020.com

www.AndyMartin.com

www.FirstRespondersOnline.us

Headquarters:

E-mail:AndyforUSSenator@aol.com

P.O. Box 742

Manchester, NH 03105-0742

Tel. (347) 960-9593

Fax (866) 214-3210

Blogs:

www.AndyMartin2020.blogspot.com

www.AndyMartin2020.wordpress.com

June 15, 2020

Senator Jeanne Shaheen

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Shaheen:

You have been a career politician in New Hampshire for three decades. During that period, you built the New Hampshire Democratic Party from the ground up.

What you have produced is a disgrace to every Granite Stater. Your party, your “base,” your supporters, are now acting as racists and segregationists. And ignoramuses.

I went to work in the 89^th Congress. Both the U. S. Senate and House were controlled by segregationists. I recognize segregationist rhetoric when I see it. President Johnson passed civil rights legislation only because Republicans supported him. More Republicans than Democrats voted for the civil rights laws.

There was very raw, racial hatred in Washington and on Capitol Hill in the 1960’s. I may be the last person active in New Hampshire politics who saw firsthand the civil rights battles in the 89^th Congress.

But until last week, when your supporters on the Executive Council rejected the nomination of Ryan Terrell for the State Board of Education, I had never seen such raw racism in New Hampshire. New Hampshire Democrats are apparently not afraid to use segregationist rhetoric to smear anyone they oppose.

Governor Sununu is to be commended and congratulated for seeking to bring New Hampshire state government into the 21^st Century by appointing Ryan Terrell to the state board. Terrell is a genuine New Hampshire success story.

At a time when the nation is now consumed with a painful review of our racial policies, New Hampshire Democrats have taken us back to segregationist days by claiming an African-American is “not qualified” and would “demean” the state board. Your people are wicked.

The ever-slimy Councilor Volinsky said that Terrell would “demean” the Board, and that Terrell’s appointment was “tokenism.” Well, the first appointee of any group to any board, by virtue of the fact he/she is alone, is “token.”

   

Volinsky later apologized for the tokenism remark but not the claim Terrell would demean the Board.

Councilor Pignatelli said Terrell should get “experience” and that she had three candidates of her own for the Board. None has surfaced. Pignatelli is both an unreconstructed racist and a complete moron.

Both Volinsky and Pignatelli should resign immediately.

Telling African-Americans they were “not qualified” and “needed more experience” were the racist tropes of the Democratic Party in the 1950’s and 60’s. Today Southerners would be embarrassed to use such openly racist remarks but New Hampshire Democrats have no problem using the old segregationist rhetoric to smear Terrell. We have a prime example of “Gone With the Wind” attitudes in your Democratic Party.

I respectfully request that you take three emergency steps:

1. I ask that you apologize to the people of New Hampshire, all of them, for the racist, segregationist behavior of your party and your supporters.

2. I ask that you call on the councilors to ask for a new vote on the Terrell nomination.

3. I ask that you tell your de facto supporters to vote for Terrell and to retract their racist, segregationist rhetoric.

By the way, you were governor for several terms. How come you never appointed an African-American to the Board of Education?  How come you never urged your successors to do so? I guess that was too much for you. Your behavior is disgraceful and an embarrassment to the People of New Hampshire.

The People of New Hampshire are not racists. But the New Hampshire Democratic Party, judging from Chairman Ray Buckley’s sophomoric remarks to the media, is composed of arrogant people who mouth racist language and demean African-Americans as unqualified, all while seeking to harvest their votes. In Chicago, they call that approach “Plantation Politics.” It appears we now have a plantation in your own Democratic Party. The Democratic Party attack on Terrell is a devastating indictment of your party.

Volinsky and Pignatelli are your people. If you don’t condemn them, you own them.

Respectfully submitted,

Andy Martin

AM:sp