Racial Tension Clouds Jacksonville Alderman Race
By: Brittney Johnson, KARK 4 News
Updated: October 30, 2012
Candidates in Jacksonville's alderman election are accusing one another of making the race about race. Some public officials and volunteers say they have never seen an alderman race this tense in the city.
"He was just screaming Terry Sansing is a confederate soldier and don't vote for him, vote for me and he kept it up," said 79 year-old Dorothy Conley.
Conley says she's been campaigning and standing up for her son, Ward 2 Candidate Terry Sansing. Conley claims his opponent, Rizelle Aaron has been saying negative things about Sansing's speech at the local historic civil war marker, Reed's Bridge Battlefield.
Some off Conley's comments also struck a nerve. KARK obtained a copy of the exchange Aaron recorded.
Here is an excerpt of the recording:
Conley: "If the slaves were not here do you think you'd be here today? No, you'd be in Africa."
Aaron: "If the slaves were not here, did Terry Sansing's mama just say I would be in Africa? Wooo, I need your vote."
"I think it's offensive, him going to Reed's Bridge and her saying, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for slavery," Aaron told KARK.
Conley claims she was provoked. Her son is defending his mom and denouncing the tone of the campaign.
"I have been involved in Jacksonville for 26 years and I have never seen this kind of aggressive, mean, slanderous, behavior," he said.
For her role and scraping Aaron's arm with a campaign sign, Conley says she's not sorry.
"I thought he was slandering my son, if you don't stick up for your kids, you're bad off," said Conley.
Aaron told police he did not want to press charges against Conley, but he filed a police report because he wanted the incident on record. He too says he is ready or the race to be over.
"He was just screaming Terry Sansing is a confederate soldier and don't vote for him, vote for me and he kept it up," said 79 year-old Dorothy Conley.
Conley says she's been campaigning and standing up for her son, Ward 2 Candidate Terry Sansing. Conley claims his opponent, Rizelle Aaron has been saying negative things about Sansing's speech at the local historic civil war marker, Reed's Bridge Battlefield.
Some off Conley's comments also struck a nerve. KARK obtained a copy of the exchange Aaron recorded.
Here is an excerpt of the recording:
Conley: "If the slaves were not here do you think you'd be here today? No, you'd be in Africa."
Aaron: "If the slaves were not here, did Terry Sansing's mama just say I would be in Africa? Wooo, I need your vote."
"I think it's offensive, him going to Reed's Bridge and her saying, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for slavery," Aaron told KARK.
Conley claims she was provoked. Her son is defending his mom and denouncing the tone of the campaign.
"I have been involved in Jacksonville for 26 years and I have never seen this kind of aggressive, mean, slanderous, behavior," he said.
For her role and scraping Aaron's arm with a campaign sign, Conley says she's not sorry.
"I thought he was slandering my son, if you don't stick up for your kids, you're bad off," said Conley.
Aaron told police he did not want to press charges against Conley, but he filed a police report because he wanted the incident on record. He too says he is ready or the race to be over.
