Knoxville News-Sentinel
September 22, 2005
White lawmaker, Black Caucus member at odds
By Tom Humphrey
NASHVILLE - The chairman of the state Legislature’s Black Caucus has questioned the motives of a white Knoxville lawmaker who asked to become a member of the group and sought a copy of its bylaws.
Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Johnny Shaw, D-Jackson, denied both requests from Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, according to separate interviews with the two men.
They differed on some details of their conversation, which for now has ended in something of a stalemate. Campfield said he might take further steps in the next legislative session.
“I think he just wanted to mess with somebody,” said Shaw. “Stacey Campfield is a strange guy. That’s the best I can say. He would never say why he wanted the bylaws or what he was trying to do.”
Campfield said he was “just curious” about operations of the Black Caucus and decided to ask Shaw for a copy of the bylaws. He said Shaw at one point asked for a copy of Republican Party bylaws and Campfield had a copy of the GOP document sent to Shaw.
“I have my questions” about the Black Caucus, Campfield said. “How is their money spent? What are membership requirements? A lot of things are contained in the bylaws. I haven’t decided how far to push it.”
In the course of their conversation, the possibility of Campfield becoming a Black Caucus member came up.
By Campfield’s account, Shaw replied in a staunch negative.
“I said, ‘Why?’ and he said, ‘Because you’re white.’ I thought, ‘What? Whoa!’ ” said Campfield, adding that he had a “substantial” number of minority constituents in his House district.
Shaw said Campfield brought up the possibility of membership in the Black Caucus in “a kidding sort of way” initially and he responded in the same manner, though in the negative.
“He’s an oddball and I didn’t take him seriously,” said Shaw. “I felt like he was trying to do something that was, well, not good.”
Campfield, asked if he intends to pursue membership in the caucus, replied, “Why don’t we just wait and see where this goes in the future?” He declined to elaborate.
Though refusing Campfield’s request to see Black Caucus bylaws, Shaw promptly provided a copy in response to a reporter’s request.
“We don’t have anything going on in the Black Caucus that anyone wants to hide. There’s nothing out of the ordinary in the bylaws,” said Shaw. “We are strictly legit and up front.”
The bylaws declare in Article II, Section 1: “The regular membership shall consist of those black elected officials serving in the state Senate and House of Representatives.”
Another provision says that “honorary membership” can be granted by unanimous vote of regular members to “those persons whose belief and actions contribute to the purpose for which this caucus was formed.”
Other provisions include a declaration that no caucus revenues shall benefit individual members and that the caucus will abide by Internal Revenue Service rules applying to nonprofit organizations.
“No part of the activities of the caucus shall be the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation and the caucus shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office,” says another provision.
Shaw said that, though membership is limited to black legislators, members have broad interests that cut across racial lines. His own district, Shaw said, includes substantial numbers of “Latinos and whites” that he strives to represent effectively.
“We still want to make sure the black community gets the representation it needs,” he said. “But it’s not just the black community. We represent people as a whole. When you start dividing people up into race, if you’re not careful you can get yourself into a lot of trouble.
Campfield said he was under the impression that the Black Caucus receives some taxpayer funding. Connie Frederick, director of the Legislature’s administrative office, said there is no direct state funding of the caucus.
The Legislature does have a taxpayer-funded Office of Minority Affairs with three staff members and one of those works mostly for the caucus, Frederick said. She compared the arrangement to the Democratic and Republican legislative caucuses, which get no direct funding but do have taxpayer-funded staff working exclusively for the partisan caucuses.
