Power

“Black Genocide” Candidate Running as Democrat in Kansas House Race

An anti-choice Democrat running for the Kansas House of Representatives isn’t really “news” in Kansas, but a Democratic candidate who speaks at local Tea Party rallies, is openly hostile to President Obama, and acts as a community leader in propagating the extreme anti-choice myth of black genocide??  Kansas, meet your Democratic Party candidate for Wichita’s 89th House District…Peggy Elliott. 

Peggy Elliott

An anti-choice Democrat running for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives isn’t really “news” in Kansas. It is infuriating, certainly, but also very common. During the 2013 legislative session 41 percent of the Kansas House Democratic Caucus cast anti-choice votes. In Kansas, The War on Women often entails Democrats and Republicans working together to build barricades to women’s health care through extreme and burdensome restrictions. 

It is unusual, however, for an anti-choice Democratic house candidate to speak at local Tea Party rallies, be openly hostile to President Obama, and act as a community leader in propagating the extreme anti-choice myth of black genocide. Well, Kansas, meet your Democratic Party candidate for Wichita’s 89th House District… Peggy Elliott.

One of Wichita’s well-known anti-choice zealots and street harassers has managed to secure her place on a Sedgwick County Democratic primary election ballot. This is a maneuver she may have picked up from another former Wichita anti-choice zealot, Randall Terry, whose Democratic bid for the Presidency may have provided the inspiration for Elliot’s political aspirations, even though Terry’s scheme didn’t pan out for him in Kansas. 

Ms. Elliott is very active within Wichita’s African-American community and also within the anti-choice community. Kansans for Life’s website lists her as their African-American Affiliate and provides the following description of her affiliation with that organization…

Peggy Elliott Ministries is KFL’s African American Outreach Affiliate. The purpose is to defend the sanctity of human life, focusing on the African American community, by offering educational conferences, written materials, outreach opportunities, and pregnancy crisis referral and services to women facing unplanned pregnancies, plus post-abortion counseling to women affected by abortion, as we move a community from a culture of death to a culture of life.

Ms. Elliott has gotten a lot of attention and traction with her anti-choice message from within Wichita’s African-American community, primarily due to her affiliation with Alveda King. Ms. King is known nationally for her tasteless misappropriation of the work of her Uncle, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Alveda King lays claim to her uncle’s name and work within the civil rights movement. While Dr. King was intent upon freeing African Americans from the bondage of inequality, Alveda’s work focuses upon forcing women into the bondage of unwanted pregnancies. She also likes to use her uncle’s name to denounce the “homosexual agenda.”   

Rather conveniently, Ms. King did not deny herself the choice to terminate her own unwanted pregnancy. An important part of her story is that she had an abortion in her own youth. Ms. Elliott fits the same mold as her “post abort” she-ro, having also availed herself of the right not to continue a pregnancy to term.  

Elliott’s friend Alveda has made several stops in Wichita through the years, her most recent was a fundraiser for Peggy Elliott’s new crisis pregnancy center. (CPC). The center’s planned location is in the heart of the African-American community. Elliott had planned to have the center open in 2012, but according to one Wichita African-American pastor who spoke to Rewire, she has yet to secure a location. Kansans for Life handed Elliott a $2,500 grant toward the start of this CPC. 

Elliott is a traditionalist in her genocide myth propagation. Here she tells the misappropriated “Margaret Sanger as eugenicist” story:

Most people do not know that black genocide has been a purposeful plan put into motion by the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger.  Sanger, a eugenicist and member of the Klu Klux Klan founded Planned Parenthood in hopes of disguising its real purpose, which was to get rid of black people, the “innately, inferior human beings.”  80% of all abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood, are located in minority communities.  80% of pregnancy crisis centers are located in suburbs.

Elliott resides in a predominately African-American district with a long history of voting for and electing Democratic representation. Representative Melody McCray-Miller has served as that district’s representative since 2005. After one of the most disastrous and difficult legislative sessions in memory, Representative Miller made the personal decision not to run for re-election, opening the door for Peggy Elliott’s run against two pro-choice primary opponents vying for the vacated seat. 

Rewire asked Representative Miller about her thoughts on “black genocide” and how her constituency views that propaganda.

I personally disagree with the myth of so-called black genocide, I always have.  When looking at what we do to combat it, we simply must speak truth and knowledge.  Residents in the 89th district have supported me as a pro-choice candidate and I believe it speaks volumes about what the district’s stance is on the issue of abortion.  I am not going to suppose that everyone believes as I do, but I had obvious support for my decision to vote pro-choice throughout my time as a legislator.

Elliott is a blatant opportunist and knows that she must run as a Democrat (or move into a Republican district) in order to have any chance to win a seat in the Kansas Legislature. She is serious about her run. She has been attending Democratic Party events, has been hosting meet-and-greets and campaigning hard. She is also the only Democrat endorsed by the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, a seal of approval based on her far right views, which include opposition to the health care reform. 

One tea party rally participant glowed over Elliott’s remarks to that group. She stated that Peggy got a standing ovation talking about how “welfare is like slavery and free healthcare is no different.Representative Gail Finney, who is a sitting House member from a neighboring district, summarized how Elliott’s views on health care were hostile to the community’s needs.   

“The 89th District is home to many recipients of government aid, from food stamps to Medicaid. Over 50 percent of African Americans in that district are without healthcare and many parents receive WIC (The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). Not to mention, the high disparity in unemployment and incarceration causing a need for assistance for many families.  This is not just a political race. This is about the future of our community. We need representation with indisputable integrity that will fight for us, not just say they are going to fight for us and flip flop later to the next opportunity.”

Just how much sway does the anti-choice movement have within Wichita’s black neighborhoods? The results of this election will provide some indication of its power or lack there-of. Meanwhile, the word about Peggy Elliott’s political affiliations is starting to spread. Let’s just hope that it spreads fast enough within the 89th district prior to Kansas’ August 7th primary election.