Democratic National Convention Starts off on the Wrong Foot

By Pamela Mortimer

Sometimes it doesn’t seem completely clear just whose side the delegates are on. As the Democratic National Convention gets underway, one would think that the focus would be on the issues at hand. Not so. Racial infighting has reared its ugly head once again as a black Obama delegate is accused of referring to one of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s black delegates as "Uncle Tom."

In an interview with FOX News on Monday, Delmarie Cobb of Chicago claimed that Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, whom Obama frequently refers to as his "political godfather," made the racial slur against her on Saturday after she spoke out in favor of Clinton. Democrats are reportedly trying to present a unified front but there remains a high degree of lingering resentment between the Obama and Clinton organizations, leading back to the primaries when each camp was accused of "playing the race card."

Cobb said Jones referred to her as "Uncle Tom" after a playful conversation turned harsh in a hotel lobby. Cobb, in the presence of a congregation of Chicago Aldermen, confronted Jones about gloating over Obama’s victory in the Democratic Party. In return, Cobb says Jones accused the Clintons of playing "gutter politics." Cobb ended the conversation and they parted company.

"I walked away and said good night and walked over across the hall to the elevators," she said. "And he shouted across the lobby, ‘Uncle Tom!’

"And I came back over and said, ‘Excuse me, what did you just say?’ And he grabbed me by my arms and started laughing. And I said, ‘No, no. What did you just say?’ And he didn’t repeat it. And I said, ‘Did you call me an Uncle Tom?’ And then I came back with a barrage of things that I won’t repeat publicly."

The epithet originated from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 19th century novel "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," and is typically used as a term aimed toward a black person who acts "passively or submissively toward whites."

When Jones was approached regarding the slur, he denied the incident and would not elaborate. Jones has since changed his story and has told reporters that Cobb must have misunderstood his remark when he referred to her as a "doubting Thomas."

"She was spouting things about Barack," Jones said. "What I said was, ‘Come on board, he’s a nice, clean cut guy and everything.’ I said, ‘We’ve got to stop all this. We’ve got too many doubting Thomases and we’ve got to get together.’

"And she was walking away and therefore she heard the last part of the word; she didn’t hear the whole part," Jones added. "I cannot apologize for one misinterpreting what I said."

Cobb pointed out that Jones never clarified the remark when he was first confronted.

"If he had said ‘doubting Thomas,’ he should have said it right then and there, said, ‘No, I did not say Uncle Tom, I said doubting Thomas.’ And it would have been over with," Cobb said.