Racist Emails on State of Alaska Accounts: A Palin Connection?

A series of racist emails sent out on State of Alaska email accounts have targeted President-elect Barack Obama. In one, the concluding line assessed Obama's victory and impending move to the White House as: "Another black living in government housing!"

According to the Associated Press, three of the racist messages were confirmed by the state's information technology division after an electronic search of the government's e-mail system, Administration Commissioner Annette Kreitzer said Wednesday.

One of the emails, entitled "Night Befo Crizzmus," was forwarded dozens of times.

Whether Governor Sarah Palin had knowledge of the emails in advance of the AP story is uncertain. She has so far not commented on the email. Her spokesperson, Bill McAllister, who is of African American descent, indicated that there was an ongoing investigation and has "nothing to do with the governor's office."

But sources that I have spoken to in Alaska acknowledge that there is a pervasive "atmosphere of racism" throughout pockets of state government. "You hear it all the time," said one. "It's accepted as part of normal conversation. No one can be surprised by this. Sarah has done nothing to stop it."

Palin's failure to condemn the emails immediately is troubling--but not out of character. When supporters at her rallies shouted out threats about Obama, such as "kill him" or "off with his head," she similarly failed to condemn such outbursts at the time.

One supporter at a McCain-Palin rally was caught on tape declaring about Obama, "I'm afraid if he wins, the blacks will take over. He's not a Christian! This is a Christian nation! What is our country gonna end up like?"

Palin refused to distance herself from such remarks.

Palin has long had strained relations with Alaska's African American community. "Blacks don't have the levels of access to the governor and state commissioners as with past administrations," said African American attorney Rex Butler and an Alaska resident since 1983. "It seems the posture of (Palin's) administration with Blacks is: Don't need them, don't worry about them."

During the presidential campaign, Gwendolyn Alexander, the president of Alaska's African-American Historical Society, detailed controversies such as Palin's staffing practices, Palin allegedly stating she "doesn't have to hire any Blacks" for major projects and her refusal to attend that state's major African-American celebration - Juneteenth. "Gov. Palin was the first governor not to send out a congratulatory letter or assist us in any way with our Juneteenth activities," Alexander wrote. "I didn't have the courtesy of receiving a reply when I asked for a representative from the Governor's office to come and speak at our Juneteenth Celebration."

To see how those in the right-wing Republican circles responded to the news of the emails, one need only go to FreeRepublic.com. "This what you get [sic] with an affirmative action fraud who has gammed the legal systems all his adult life," wrote one respondent. "This fraudulent leftist is the end result of allowing affirmative action and political correctness to destory [sic] the nation and sissify our governement [sic] and courts."

Palin, herself, was accused of making such comments about Obama herself prior to her receiving the VP nomination. Those who know her are split about whether they believe she made them or not. "I don't think she did," said one longtime resident of Wasilla. "But my husband thinks she could have. Who knows? I've never heard her say anything like that."

But on the campaign trail, Palin ramped up the rhetoric about Obama to the point of being incendiary. "This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America," she declared. She also charged him with"pallin' around with terrorists" and declaring that "he's not one of us."

As many people noted, Palin's rhetoric was racially coded--and the implications were clear.

"He's 'not one of us?'" observed African American congressmember Gregory Meeks of New York. "That's racial. That's fear. They know they can't win on the issues, so the last resort they have is race and fear."

Even her positioning herself as a "hockey mom" had racial implications. "Who are these hockey moms?" asked New York Representative Yvette Clarke. "Is that supposed to be terminology that is of common ground to all Americans? I don't find that. It leaves a lot of people out."

Comments

[Jezreel]

The allegations in this article are not surprising at all. It only confirms what most of us either already knew or suspected. Great reporting Geoffrey Dunn, keep up the good work.

[DawnK]

Is anybody really surprised? Alaska is the new Texas.

[nordjak]

Not at all. Alaska is actually one of the most socially liberal states.

[AbyssinianLion]

I guess the moose are liberal, huh?

[MAragon]

She is not going to condemn racism. She's too busy celebrating the raise she gave herself for not even going to Juneau.

[nordjak]

/facepalm

http://www.adn.com/palin/story/626781.html

[lvdragonlady]

Palin is part of the problem so she can never be part of the solution.

[BossBabe]

As a former resident of Alaska and current resident of a deep south state, I can tell you that the racism in Alaska is far more pervasive than any I've seen here.

[ArmyCentrist]

Well, Black people as a general rule don't like to be cold, so Alaska can say what they want about me, I'm not trying to visit anytime soon!

"Sissify the government"- what. an. idiotic. thing. to. say. period. Sounds like a line from "Lil' Bush", which was a dumb show.

Towards the end of the piece, the Black people started to sound whiny. celebrate Juneteenth, SP or no SP. Who cares about her?

[truji999]

It wasn't that. It was the fact that she was the only governor not to participate or send any government official to participate in the celebration.

[emcd]

"One supporter at a McCain-Palin rally was caught on tape declaring about Obama, "I'm afraid if he wins, the blacks will take over. He's not a Christian! This is a Christian nation! What is our country gonna end up like?"

The United States of America is not a "Christian nation". There is no official State religion. The original settlers of North America came here largely prompted by their desire to freely practice a religion that was not the same as a State religion in their native country!

The US is a nation where FREEDOM OF RELIGION is protected. That means that you are allowed to practice your religion whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or if you choose NOT to practice any religion at all, without fear of being discriminated against, imprisoned or subject to the "Spanish Inquisition".

I wish that our incoming president would fully embrace the diversity that he claims to represent and make a definitive statement to this effect. But perhaps this posting instead belongs atttached to the Rick Warren story.

[Dudfield007]

Hahaha, of course the U.S. is a Christian nation. While it may not be a state religion, there is the monotheistic God everywhere! God Bless American. In God We Trust. One Nation Under God.
That religion that they practiced in England was Puritanism, WHICH IS STILL CHRISTIAN!

[princelyfrank]

The English practiced Anglicanism, an offshoot of Catholicism with the King of England taking the place of the Pope as head of the church. The Puritans left England for Massachussetts because they felt they were being persecuted by the Church of England. That's the simple version, at least.

And while a plurality of Americans self-identify as Christians, most of them do not operate under Christian principles like charity, non-violence, acceptance and love. So are we really a Christian nation at all?

[TooLooze]

Wasn't it the Puritans who burned "witches" alive? In God We Trust indeed.

[11907281]

"The United States of America is not a "Christian nation". There is no official State religion." While you may be technically correct, the reality is much different. The first Muslim elected to congress was asked by Glenn Beck "How do we know the difference between you and those that are trying to kill us?". This man would be black listed and would never be seen again in a civilized secular democracy ... instead he becomes more popular and sign a big contract with the main theocratic news channel that accuses atheists of hate speech for posting their views on god in public. America is moving closer to Iran and Saudi Arabia than western Europe.

[kdn25]

This is just the media spinning things again! Washington and the liberals are so afraid of Sarah and thats why Americans love her so much! Come on Sarah lets shake things up!! Every day I look at my Sarah Palin calendar and I am inspired to fight! She will make it to the White House! (the calendar by the way, is on amazon, and is GORGEOUS!! it also makes a great gift!!) SARAH PALIN 2012!!

[fedupinfla]

Ooohhh I'm soo scared of big bad Sarah.. Her superior mind & keen intelect totally intimidates me. I'm sure everyone in Washington is utterly disappointed they won't have her there "shaking things up" (whatever the hell that means) So what if she can't answer a simple question without making us dizzy. All she's gotta do is wink and the problem is solved dontcha know?

Oh, and when I see her calendar, I wanna fight too....fight back the nausea....

[RGIngersoll]

Regarding that comment: "He's not a Christian! This is a Christian nation! What is our country gonna end up like?"

The United States of America is NOT a Christian country. In the words of Robert G. Ingersoll, "They tell me that the United States -- our country -- is Christian. It is neither Christian nor pagan; it is human. Our fathers retired all the gods from politics. Our fathers laid down the doctrine that the right to govern comes from the consent of the governed, and not from the clouds. Our fathers knew that if they put an infinite God in the Constitution there would be no room left for the people. Our fathers used the language of Lincoln, and they made a government for the people by the people. This is not a Christian country."

[trisha08]

Speaking of emails......whatever happened to the probe into Palin's use of a personal email account for State business?

Gee...who knows what's included in those emails since they can't be seen by the State government. Anyone still on that one?

[browneyedqtie]

Oh, please.

1. Sarah Palin isn't going to make racist remarks when she is such a high profile figure because she is not stupid. I do not buy that she said anything like this for one minute. She is too ambitious to do that--she knows it would bite her in the butt later.

2. When she accused Obama of pallin' around with terrorists, that was not racist. It was a questionable relationship--one that either side would have pointed out about the other.

3. When she said Obama wasn't "one of us" she meant a Conservative! You can try to twist that if you want, but that's all it was. She wasn't referring to his race anymore than he was referring to her as a pig when he made the lipstick comment.

The woman sometimes creates her own gaffes, but there are a lot of people working overtime to create gaffes for her...and I'm sure she's sick of it. What an annoyance it must be. Leave her alone and let her govern her state!

She has obviously done a good job as governor prior to this election, and now she has to deal with a lot of negativity in her own state which wasn't there prior to her run for national office. She has gained a great deal of notoriety but not without a significant cost.

I wish people would let it go so she can carry on. The racist stuff is a stretch and total crap.

[aloha43]

This was a sad attempt to make Palin look good.

[makrom]

Wow, browney, you really believe that hype?? And you really believe that Obama's team would have over-hyped guilt by association just as Palin did?? Man, what color is the sky in your world anyway?

[Coopforobama]

browneyedqtie, it is quite obvious that you've confused this website with Fox News. New flash, racism and bigotry is ALIVE and WELL in this country and Sarah Palin ONLY fueled the fire MORE during the compaign.

[trisha08]

I guess racists don't think that racist language/behavior is bad.

Do tell, who is working overtime to create gaffs for Palin? I don't believe that she needs any help in that dept.

[broezekiel]

Also, the negativity has been in Alaska for a long time. It is a very corrupt state.

[Petey131]

What a surprise. Palin is a bigot and those who voted for her likewise. It was clear at her rally what she was all about.

[nordjak]

This is a pretty sad attempt at drawing a "connection," nothing substantive at all. Tens of thousands of people have state email accounts. Is Palin a racist? maybe. Is Palin connected to these emails? No.

[Lady Rose]

No one needs to try and pin this on Palin - or try to prove she helped spread the emails or anything like that.

The quesion is WHY isn't she making a public statement saying that she disapproves, that she make sure all those involved are named, and that some kind of seminar or classes will be held to help put an end to such distaste behavior.

To anwer my own question - my quess is because Palin doesn't think this sort of thing is a big deal and most likely she is a bigot herself (there is enough evidence about her that she is), and by her silence she is condoning these emails.

[TMann99821]

Trying to pin this on Sarah Palin is quite a stretch. I'm sure if every state's information technology department ran a search, they would see the same results.

[hortonhearsawho2]

So, you on the north side or south side of Wasilla...

[PAposter]

Really!?!

[bogues]

She should come out and publicly denounce this kind of thing. The fact that she has not, tells me she more than likely agrees with that kind of hate-mongering. I heard her on the campaign trail, it is no stretch to think that she could say things like that.

[trisha08]

So true.

[nordjak]

I have a State email address. Stuff worthy of "condemnation" is circulated on a weekly basis; not just racist jokes, but inappropriate gossip and dirty cartoons (including several involving Palin.) Expecting Palin to immediately address and denounce every single discretion is ridiculous.

Keep grasping for straws partisan drone.

[joeplum88]

Will she ever go away??

[TMann99821]

Not if HuffPo has anything to do with it. She lost but she still gets more advertisement here than Joe Biden. The only thing I've heard about him since the election is that he bought a puppy.

[aloha43]

That is because she isn't in her realm, and Huff and all of it's posters are trying to prove that.

Joe, on the other hand, is a smart commendable person, so he doesn't need the attention.