Rasp
Senior Editor
Palm Beach Post
Teen son of Klansman wins vote for GOP post
Did we witness the birth of a mini David Duke in West Palm Beach Tuesday night?
Derek Black, the 19-year-old son of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Don Black who's married to the former wife of white supremacist politician David Duke, won his first election Tuesday.
He's now a Republican Party committeeman. His job is primarily to ensure that voters in District 29, which runs alongside Southern Boulevard east of Dixie, vote Republican.
Tuesday's contest wasn't even a squeaker: Derek Black won with 58 percent of the votes, 167 out of 287. His opponent was Eduardo Burkhart, 47. Burkhart, w
ho's deaf, made news last year when Gov. Charlie Crist used Burkhart's attempts to sell his condo on Flagler as a prop to illustrate why lower property taxes were needed.
Young Derek Black, meanwhile, is still living at his family's home on Lakeland Drive, according to records. Attempts to reach Derek Black were unsuccessful.
It is from that location that Don Black, his dad, produces a racist Web site, www.stormfront.org. Several entries in blogs on the site Wednesdays were stuffed with ethnic slurs directed at blacks, Jewish people and Hispanics.
Derek Black couldn't be reached Wednesday. But he's also known in this country's white supremacist crowd.
In 2001, Derek was just 12 when USA Today highlighted his work at creating a children's page on stormfront.org. That page included white supremacist songs, bulletin boards and anti-Martin Luther Koon bedtime stories. Don Black, the story pointed out, keeps a photo of his son in a Confederate uniform on his des
k.
The teenage boy, who sports flaming red hair, is currently listed as a radio commentator on his dad's site.
Derek Black quietly campaigned, visiting many of the district's historic homes. Residents on his block include a single lesbian on one side, and a gay couple on the other. One of the two men is black.
"His mom (Chloe) took him around, introducing him to everyone," said one resident who asked that her name not be used.
Chloe Black, by the way, is none other than the former wife of Duke, maybe the best known white supremacist of the past 30 years. He ran for several public offices in Louisiana, at times coming close to getting elected. He ran both as a Republican and a Democrat.
Republican leaders here, meanwhile, said they never heard of Derek Black's name until Page 2.1 called them.
"I assume he qualified to run for the seat and he was elected," said local GOP boss Sid Dinerstein. http://www.geocities.com/raspstar
b/smilies/jude.jpg "Anybody in this country can join a party and run for a position on that party. He is entitled to be seated if he acts according to our constitution."
Added Dinerstein, who's Jewish: "Hopefully, he left that past behind. He shouldn't forget that this party was formed by abolitionists."
Allen West, a black Republican running for Congress in the south part of the county, says he'll "have a talk" with Black at the first meeting of the local GOP in September.
"If he won't judge me for my character instead of my race, I'll ask to please not support me in any way," West said.
Teen son of Klansman wins vote for GOP post
Did we witness the birth of a mini David Duke in West Palm Beach Tuesday night?
Derek Black, the 19-year-old son of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Don Black who's married to the former wife of white supremacist politician David Duke, won his first election Tuesday.
He's now a Republican Party committeeman. His job is primarily to ensure that voters in District 29, which runs alongside Southern Boulevard east of Dixie, vote Republican.
Tuesday's contest wasn't even a squeaker: Derek Black won with 58 percent of the votes, 167 out of 287. His opponent was Eduardo Burkhart, 47. Burkhart, w
ho's deaf, made news last year when Gov. Charlie Crist used Burkhart's attempts to sell his condo on Flagler as a prop to illustrate why lower property taxes were needed.
Young Derek Black, meanwhile, is still living at his family's home on Lakeland Drive, according to records. Attempts to reach Derek Black were unsuccessful.
It is from that location that Don Black, his dad, produces a racist Web site, www.stormfront.org. Several entries in blogs on the site Wednesdays were stuffed with ethnic slurs directed at blacks, Jewish people and Hispanics.
Derek Black couldn't be reached Wednesday. But he's also known in this country's white supremacist crowd.
In 2001, Derek was just 12 when USA Today highlighted his work at creating a children's page on stormfront.org. That page included white supremacist songs, bulletin boards and anti-Martin Luther Koon bedtime stories. Don Black, the story pointed out, keeps a photo of his son in a Confederate uniform on his des
k.
The teenage boy, who sports flaming red hair, is currently listed as a radio commentator on his dad's site.
Derek Black quietly campaigned, visiting many of the district's historic homes. Residents on his block include a single lesbian on one side, and a gay couple on the other. One of the two men is black.
"His mom (Chloe) took him around, introducing him to everyone," said one resident who asked that her name not be used.
Chloe Black, by the way, is none other than the former wife of Duke, maybe the best known white supremacist of the past 30 years. He ran for several public offices in Louisiana, at times coming close to getting elected. He ran both as a Republican and a Democrat.
Republican leaders here, meanwhile, said they never heard of Derek Black's name until Page 2.1 called them.
"I assume he qualified to run for the seat and he was elected," said local GOP boss Sid Dinerstein. http://www.geocities.com/raspstar
b/smilies/jude.jpg "Anybody in this country can join a party and run for a position on that party. He is entitled to be seated if he acts according to our constitution."
Added Dinerstein, who's Jewish: "Hopefully, he left that past behind. He shouldn't forget that this party was formed by abolitionists."
Allen West, a black Republican running for Congress in the south part of the county, says he'll "have a talk" with Black at the first meeting of the local GOP in September.
"If he won't judge me for my character instead of my race, I'll ask to please not support me in any way," West said.