Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

10-14-90 David Duke, at one time a leader of the Ku Klux Klan and now a Louisiana state legislator, has—thank goodness—lost his bid for the United States Senate. He ran as a Republican, but was denied support by the Republican National Committee on grounds that he does not represent Republican ideals. What surprises and troubles me is the fact that Duke received forty-four percent of the statewide vote. His opponent, J. Bennett Johnston, is a long-time member of the Senate and one of its most respected members. How could this have happened? How could a former Klan member have come so close to joining “America’s most exclusive club”? One explanation is that many Louisiana residents are racists. They saw in Duke not only someone who shared their attitudes and views, but someone who was willing to espouse and act on them. Another, less cynical, explanation is that Duke has the right mix of conservative views for the time and place in which he ran. He is opposed to welfare programs, affirmative-action measures, and expansions of black civil rights; he favors a strong national defense; and he wants to punish drug dealers and other convicted criminals more harshly. These views go over well among white, working-class Louisianans, many of whom blame blacks and Hispanics for their economic woes. (Louisiana’s economy has been in a slump since oil prices fell a few years ago.) Duke’s success can also be interpreted as a backlash against the welfare state. One thing is for sure: We haven’t heard the last of David Duke.