Lately, whenever most people think about unhinged black conservatives, the first person who comes to mind is Ben Carson. Well, believe it or not, there may be a black conservative who is even loonier than Carson. The Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Kentucky was caught on tape saying that Project Head Start is being used to brainwash our kids.
Jenean Hampton is Matt Bevin’s running mate in the November 3 gubernatorial election. Born to a poor family in Detroit, Hampton served in the Air Force for seven years, retiring as a captain. She then worked for 19 years in the packaging industry, eventually becoming a plant manager. Like Bevin, Hampton is a tea partier from central casting. She is the former chairwoman of the Bowling Green Tea Party, and first gained attention when she challenged former state house speaker Jody Richards in the 2014 election. If she wins, she would be the first person of color to hold statewide office in Kentucky.
To give you an idea of just how out there Hampton is, a good start would be the lieutenant gubernatorial debate held on Wednesday, Hampton went as far as to question whether the Supreme Court is “the final arbiter of anything.” Incredibly, Hampton claimed that if the Supreme Court had the final say on what the law and the Constitution means, “I would still be a slave.” She also suggested that the Supreme Court had no power to overturn state law or provisions of a state constitution. Democrat Sannie Overly, who is Jack Conway’s running mate, quickly corrected her, saying–rightly–that the federal Constitution is supreme over state law. I imagine Overly must have been trying hard not to do a facepalm on stage at having to remind Hampton of something a third grader should have known.
Believe it or not, though, those aren’t the most unhinged things Hampton said this week. A day earlier, Hampton spoke to Republican activists in Jessamine County, south of Lexington. During her speech, Hampton claimed that Project Head Start had been turned from a program to give poor kids a hand up into a government “indoctrination” program. Watch here.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK31S96FGvE&w=853&h=480]
If you heard this with your eyes closed, you would think you were listening to a raving conspiracy theorist, not someone who wants to be a lieutenant governor. I searched and searched for any instances where Bevin and/or Hampton proffered any evidence to even suggest that Head Start is an indoctrination program. What turned up? Nada, zip, nothing, bupkis.
A close friend of mine who used to go to my church in Charlotte put her son through Head Start. He didn’t show any signs of being indoctrinated. My friend went through an abusive marriage, so I figure she would have seen signs of abusive behavior being directed at her son right away. Perhaps Hampton ought to have a chat with her.
There hasn’t been any public polling of this contest since June. That’s disappointing. Kentuckians need to know that if they give Bevin the keys to the governor’s mansion, a woman who is essentially Sarah Palin with black skin will be only a heartbeat away from the governorship. Kentuckians deserve better. And with Jack Conway and Sannie Overly, they’ll get better.
