Who’s afraid of Keith Ellison?

BY JORDAN S. KUSHNER

The Republicans, with the help of the Star Tribune, seek to generate fears related to Keith Ellison’s racial and religious identification in order to destroy his candidacy without ever addressing his constructive accomplishments and substantive political agenda. In a political culture where candidates for office change political views all the time, and the executive branch is committing crimes against humanity, discrete actions and statements in the course of Ellison’s genuine political development and evolution are taken out of context to prevent any honest understanding of what he really represents as a person and candidate.

Outside of their invocation of racial and religious prejudice, the right-wingers really fear Ellison’s commitment to social justice. This being the source of their real fear, they seek to cover it up by continual character assassination.
I have known and worked with Ellison since we were both in law school. He has always had a deep commitment to the most serious issues of social justice, and acted on his beliefs. Ellison’s first public political action in Minnesota consisted of organizing activists to paint over racist and anti-Semitic graffiti which had covered the Washington Avenue bridge at the University of Minnesota for several weeks. He then became a primary organizer and spokesperson in a large community coalition responding to police brutality in Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of an elderly couple and a police attack on a party of African American students.

These efforts led to a broad public awareness of the problem and the establishment of the civilian review authority. At the same time that he engaged in activism, Ellison devoted great intellectual energy to analyzing the causes of and solutions for society’s deepest problems, and openly explored all sorts of ideas. Like many of us trying to deal with heavy issues at a young age, Ellison might have been less mature, had more unchanneled anger, and shown less careful analysis.

He now has a four-year recent record as a legislator and citizen activist. This record includes developing concrete environmental legislation, working in broad coalitions to protect basic civil rights and liberties and to prevent discrimination against the most vulnerable groups in society, and engaging in consistent peace activism. It is this recent record that DFL delegates representing all these interests considered when quickly endorsing him for Congress.

Ellison’s full story is one of evolution from a committed young activist with racial anger that is common and understandable in light of our society’s history of racial discrimination and injustice, to an elected official and candidate for Congress who maintains his commitment to justice combined with an inclusive vision of issues that need to be addressed to improve society. It is a story that if properly reported, should generate inspiration and hope rather than divisive controversy. Ellison’s candidacy should embody the reconciliation and unity that most yearn to see—except for the Rovian right-wing manipulators whose power depends on creating division and disenfranchisement.

The fear of the message and the potential of Ellison’s candidacy is what has the right-wing Republicans so obsessed with ruining it. They undoubtedly fear the potential to draw a much larger turnout of inner-city voters who could easily tip the balance in close statewide elections. The Republican attackers obviously fear what Ellison will do in Congress. His past and recent stands make it clear that he will stand up to and challenge every aspect of the extreme right-wing agenda that is so dangerous to our future, and that currently dominates the government. Ellison will be a powerful voice and organizing force against the agenda of endless war, shredding of the Constitution, looting of society’s resources for the benefit of the ultra-rich, ecological destruction of the planet, and discrimination against targeted groups for short-term political gain. His attackers fear Ellison’s long history of willingness to take on controversial causes—an indication that he will be undeterred by the powerful forces attempting to keep Congress from making a difference.

The reasons for the right-wing Republican’s fear are the reasons that make it so important that Keith Ellison prevail.

Jordan S. Kushner is a Minneapolis civil rights attorney.