With Election Day less than a month away, bad blood between two key Democratic leaders appears to be reaching a boiling point tied to accusations of racism.
Joe Jordan with News Channel Nebraska is reporting that Crystal Rhoades, the head of the Douglas County Democratic Party, has accused Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb of using African Americans as props. Both Rhoades and Kleeb are white.
According to emails and texts, Rhoades has written that Kleeb “grabs a person of color as a token for her photos. Then she leaves without doing a thing to actually help.”
Kleeb told Jordan she finds Rhoades’ comments “really hurtful.” In the meantime Rhoades, who also wrote, “Jane breezes into town, grabs a token and rents a space and she’s a hero and I’m a zero?” is doubling down.
“I stand by my criticism of Chair Kleeb,” Rhoades says in a statement to News Channel Nebraska. “I’ve worked for years in government on policies that dismantle systemic racism and I find Kleeb’s efforts woefully inadequate.”
(Photo: News Channel Nebraska)