“We know that crime is in the black community. Why should I waste my time in the white community?”
--Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee

Here at The New Orleans Tribune, we're not only infuruated by the fact that Jeff Sheriff Harry Lee said those words. What is downright appalling is that he has made racist comments like this time and again, with little or no reproof.

Lee himself has said repeatedly that he just says what he feels. Well, he must only feel hate fueled by high-octane bigotry. We are galled that this man can exist so ostentatiously and in such a position of power for so many decades. And we felt it was time somebody said it—clearly, unapologetically and publicly.

Here at The New Orleans Tribune, we have heard the trite counterpoints—like Lee, being a racial minority himself, can’t possibly be a racist or that his heart is in the right place and he really wants to fight crime, really wants to help the community. Sometimes he just says the wrong things.

To paraphrase the always eloquent Maya Angelou: When someone shows you (in Lee’s case tells you) who he is—believe him. We believe you, Lee. We only question if anyone has taken you at your words.

We sit in utter disbelief and ask—where are OUR leaders, OUR preachers and OUR elected officials, especially? Why have they not wailed from the rafters time after time as Lee as seen fit to attack and disparage the black community? Where is the majority media and political pundits who thought it appropriate to have what could only be described as a conniption fit when New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin referred to a city whose population was nearly 70 percent African-American as “chocolate city” but only react with slight bemusement when Harry Lee spews his venom. Everyone likes him, some people fear him, opines T-P columnist James Gill. Well, we are neither scared nor fond of Harry Lee. We are fed up with the man. And are in an absolute uproar to know why we seem to stand alone.

There have been other arguments as to why Harry Lee ought to be tolerated, especially now and from some of the most unlikely sources. Jefferson Parish is indeed experiencing a crime wave. And Jefferson needs someone who will be tough on criminals—now more than ever. Indeed there are many black Jeff residents just as concerned about the parish’s crime wave as anyone else, including an elderly woman who no longer sits in her front yard and a health-conscious 30-something registered nurse who has forgone brisk walks through her neighborhood, because of a rash in crime. Sadly, they have all but given way to the notion that maybe Lee should do what he wants and say what he wants—if it means crime will subside.

But if Harry Lee’s words and ways have been meant to instill fear in criminals so much so that they would stop committing crime, then someone should let the him know it’s not working.

Of course, that was never his intent.

See, criminals have hardly been the targets of Lee’s racist rants. Instead, Jeff’s top cop has taken to incessantly vilifying an entire race of people. It might seem easy to dismiss a single off remark as foot-in-mouth syndrome, if it had been a single remark. But it almost appears as if Lee purposely denigrates African Americans in an effort to endear himself with whites. We cringe to think it is working. His approval rating among white Jeff voters has reportedly never been higher. We can’t think of a single white politician who has ever challenged Lee’s positions and even some black ones will break bread with the devil if it means an endorsement to garner votes from white Jeff voters.

Of course, fears and concerns about the rising crime rate in Jefferson Parish are understandable. We don’t want crime to take over our neighborhoods—any of them. We want good, strong crime fighters at the highest level within our law enforcement agencies. We want criminals off of the streets. We want to feel safe in our homes and communities.

But the idea that Leeism is the key to getting a handle on crime has a flaw: Lee has been doing and saying whatever vulgar and racist thing he can dream up for decades; and crime in Jefferson has not disappeared. Sure, it has always been lower than crime in neighboring Orleans. Still, it has had a home in Jefferson Parish. And for all of his piss and vinegar, Harry Lee has not eradicated it.

The fact is Lee is more menacing than crime. He, himself, uttered the most ominous words we have heard from a politician in the 21st century.

“The sheriff of (Jefferson Parish) is the closet thing there is to being a king in the U.S. I have no unions. I don’t have civil service. I hire and fire at will. I don’t have to go to the council to propose a budget. I approve the budget. I am the head of the law enforcement district, and the law enforcement district only has one vote,” said Lee in a NPR story on Nov. 28.

That, as much as any crime stat report, ought to send chills down the spines of democratic people.

Now add to his superciliousness, racism.

Most recenlty, Lee was quoted as saying, “We know that crime is in the black community. Why should I waste my time in the white community?”

And the instances Lee has threatened Jeff’s black community, saying he would stop policing black neighborhoods because black people had the nerve to question him, are too numerous to count.

“Listen here you insolent Negroes—either let me say and do what I want or I’ll let you rot on your crime-ridden streets while me and my good white folk dance on your graves. And if any of you black-elected officials or wannabe leaders dare try to stand for right on the behalf of your people, I’ll show you who runs this piece of God’s earth. I got a lotta money I’ve been saving--never having to really campaign for office in nearly three decades and all. And I’ll use every red cent of it to bury you.”

Of course those were never his exact words. But I submit that this interpretation is not far removed.

Lee’s first ignorant utterance—at least of a public nature—dates back some 20 years when the crime-fighting mastermind thought he would rid Jefferson Parish of its criminal element simply by barricading white neighborhoods and stopping black motorists driving beat up cars if they tried to enter them. Even if Lee was remotely correct in his absurd thought process—and black folk were the source of all illegal happenings—all one would have had to do to escape his dragnet was drive a nice car.

That top-notch law enforcement modus operandi, alone, leaves us questioning how Lee has managed reelection almost effortlessly since he first won the sheriff’s post in 1979.

But he has. And we are not or least no longer mad because of what Lee is, does or says, but because he is, does and says unchecked. Someone needs to rein in the Chinese Cajun Cowboy. Whoaaaaa, boy!

While Lee has sometimes backed off—at least publicly—from some of his most outrageous statements, he is usually good for eventually following it up with something even more thoughtless and bigoted.

In due course, he would say something else that should have raised the ire of people with any shred of decency and dignity. Why wouldn’t he? When has he ever suffered for his racist attitudes?

Is there no one in a position of power with enough impudence to stand on the truth, to say that Harry Lee is a racist and wrong for Jefferson Parish, wrong for this region, this state, this country? Will no one seriously question why this self-proclaimed king has ruled for so long?

There was State Sen. Karen Carter, who said that law enforcement in Jefferson Parish was wrong to keep Katrina victims from crossing the Crescent City Connection to safety during Katrina and its aftermath. And for Carter’s truth, she gets trouble. Lee dips into his own campaign coffers to launch an anti-Carter campaign in Jefferson Parish as the state lawmaker faced U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson for the congressional seat.

To be sure, our anger with Lee has nothing to do with the outcome of the Jefferson-Carter race, but on this point she was right. Whether it was Gretna Police or Jeff deputies doing the dirt--to keep hurting people from getting to safety after Katrina was morally reprehensible. Starving, scared people held at bay by gunpoint by law enforcement officials from what is supposed to be a “neighboring” community--and we wonder why the national media took to calling us refugees. More lawmakers and leaders--white and black--ought to hide their heads in shame for not standing up and calling the perpertrators of this most horrid and callous behavior to task and calling it what it was--hatred, racism and lynch-mob mentality.

Still, some ponder whether Lee’s leaflets against Carter actually contributed to her loss in the race. We at The Tribune choose to think otherwise. It gives us solace to believe that Lee is incapable of wielding that kind of power.

We need to hold on to that for the hope that maybe one day, the good people of Jefferson Parish will see Harry Lee for who and what he is, and they will accordingly begin to question whether they want his to be the words and ways that represent their community to the rest of the world.