David Duke | 6. A Concerned Citizen

Summary

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Slow Burn (Season 4): David Duke | Episode 6 - "A Concerned Citizen"

Release Date: July 22, 2020
Host: Josh Levin (Slate Podcasts)
Theme: The grassroots mobilization and moral reckoning that defined the final weeks of Louisiana’s unprecedented 1991 gubernatorial runoff between former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and long-serving governor Edwin Edwards.

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Episode Overview

This episode of Slow Burn delves into the anxiety, activism, and civic choices facing Louisiana residents during the 1991 election runoff between Republican David Duke—a notorious white supremacist—and Democrat Edwin Edwards, a politician widely acknowledged as corrupt. Through personal stories, historic context, and analysis, host Josh Levin asks how “ordinary citizens” responded to the urgent threat Duke posed and chronicles the creative and determined efforts to stop him from becoming governor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Stakes of the 1991 Runoff (00:31–02:18)

• David Duke, despite being repudiated by both state and national GOP leaders, captured 32% of the gubernatorial primary vote, making the runoff a tense and pivotal four-week struggle.
• Edwards, despite his issues with corruption allegations, became the default “anti-Duke” candidate.
• The period marked the best chance for Duke—and his ideology—to become a national political force.

Quote:
“In this state, the governor is like a king. He basically does what he wants. So I have the opportunity to make great changes if I'm elected, and that's what I want to do for everyone.”
— David Duke, reflecting on the power at stake (02:10)

2. “Vote for the Crook. It’s Important”: Citizen Activism Begins (02:31–04:00)

• Kirby Neuberger, a Republican voter, recounts how he commissioned the now-famous “Vote for the Crook. It’s Important” bumper sticker—an ironic, urgent endorsement of Edwards over Duke (03:02).
• The sticker harnessed dark humor to convey to mainstream conservatives that supporting Edwards—even begrudgingly—was a civic duty in the face of Duke’s racism.

Memorable Moment:
Kirby Neuberger distributed bumper stickers from his car, responding to interest from passersby:
“I’d pull over and open my trunk and take one out and hand one to them.” (03:42)

3. Grassroots Mobilization in the Black Community (05:12–06:09)

• Kent Smith, student body president at Southern University (an HBCU), describes the sense of moral emergency among students and the decision to act.
• Massive voter registration rallies, buoyed by the Southern University band, turned registration into a celebration of resistance and hope.

Quote:
“We're talking about over a thousand people, you know, in lines. ...Having the band there ... made all the difference in the world. And so it became a festive gathering of positivity, if you will.”
— Kent Smith (05:40)

• The effect: More than 65,000 new voter registrations in two days, overwhelming even Duke’s home parish.

4. Battling Complacency and “It Couldn’t Happen Here” Thinking (06:09–07:36)

• Polling showed a tight race: Edwards at 46%, Duke at 42%, 12% undecided.
• Lance Hill, leader of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, points out that many white voters doubted Duke could do real harm because “this is America”—a dangerous misconception he found hard to counter.

Quote:
“They also believed that democracy was always safe. And that’s very difficult objection to overcome in an argument.”
— Lance Hill, on public complacency about democratic vulnerability (07:36)

5. The Moral Equation: Who Deserved Protest, Who Deserved Power? (07:36–08:43)

• The episode explores how anti-Duke activists weighed reaching out to both conservative whites (alienated by corruption but not bigotry) and Black Louisianans (motivated by alarm and self-preservation).
• The election became a crisis not just of politics, but of core values—forcing uncomfortable coalitions for the sake of democracy.

Quote:
“Somehow the word has gotten out that there’s a possibility this could happen anywhere in America.”
— Kent Smith, on the national implications of the Louisiana election (08:35)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “We have no support from a lot of the major publications and newspapers, but we have the endorsement that counts for this state, the endorsement of the people of Louisiana.”
  — David Duke, celebrating his base after the primary (01:15)

• “In my mind, you had to vote for Edwin Edwards even if you didn’t want to. Cause without that vote, then David Duke would win.”
  — Kirby Neuberger, on the necessity of backing Edwards (02:31)

• “Just felt like we had to get engaged and kind of one of those ‘not on our watch’ kind of things. As a student, even then, it was kind of, this can't be happening.”
  — Kent Smith, at the outbreak of student activism (05:12)

• “He [David Duke] can’t do that. … This is America, you can’t just get rid of democracy.”
  — Unnamed white working class voter, illustrating denial about the stakes (07:36)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:31–02:18: Setting the stakes: Duke’s rise and the dire implications
• 02:31–04:00: The birth of the “Vote for the Crook” message
• 05:12–06:09: Black student mobilization at Southern University
• 06:09–07:36: Facing denial about threats to democracy
• 07:36–08:43: Expanding the frame: The national implications and building broad resistance

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Tone and Storytelling Approach

The episode blends urgency, dark humor, and a deep sense of historic import. First-person accounts and archival reflections immerse listeners in a moment when everyday citizens were pushed to see the extraordinary consequences of their choices. The narrative conveys a sense of both alarm (over Duke’s plausibility) and hope (in citizens’ capacity to organize and choose democracy, even agonizingly).

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Summary

“A Concerned Citizen” masterfully chronicles the closing weeks of a pivotal election, spotlighting the ingenuity of the Republican and Black communities in joining forces—however awkwardly—to block an avowed racist from power. It reveals how moral clarity and creative grassroots activism overcame disgust and division, providing a blueprint, and a warning, for political crises everywhere.

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Transcript

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[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

This podcast contains language that some listeners might find offensive. It was comforting to imagine that the David Duke phenomenon was an illusion or a fad that people would get wise that Duke would hit a ceiling. Plenty of people thought that. But in the fall of 1991, Duke's movement just kept building.

[Interviewee/Participant]

Louisiana politician David Duke has a new listing on his resume. He is not only a former grand wizard in the Ku Klux Klan, he is also now a runoff candidate for governor.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

He was repudiated by both state and national Republican parties, yet finished a strong second with 32% of the vote.

[Interviewee/Participant]

We have no support from a lot of the major publications and newspapers, but we have the endorsement that counts for this state, the endorsement of the people of Louisiana.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

There were four weeks between the primary in the governor's race and the Nov. 16 runoff. For Duke, those 28 days were his best chance to become a real force in American politics. Duke was running as a Republican against Democrat Edwin Edwards, who'd served three terms as governor in the 1970s and 80s. Edwards had long been accused of running Louisiana as his personal fiefdom, using his position to enrich himself and his friends. Republicans who'd been on the rise in the state for more than a decade despised Edwards and the style of politics he represented. David Duke looked at the power Edwards had wielded and wanted some of it for himself.

[Interviewee/Participant]

In this state, the governor is like a king. He basically does what he wants. So I have the opportunity to make great changes if I'm elected, and that's.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

What I want to do for everyone, fighting to keep David Duke from gaining that kind of power. The runoff was the time to make a final stand to convince the people of Louisiana that this was an emergency.

[Interviewee/Participant]

In my mind, you had to vote for Edwin Edwards even if you didn't want to. Cause without that vote, then David Duke would win.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

Kirby Neuberger lived in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, and he worked in wealth management. When Neuberger's Candidate, the reform minded Republican Buddy Romer finished third in the gubernatorial primary. He was left with two unappealing choices. But for Neuberger, it was an easy call.

[Interviewee/Participant]

And it was the morning after the election when I called my printer and I said, I would like for you to print up for me a thousand bumper stickers. They'd say, vote for the Crook. It's important. He said, I'll do it. I said, do you need to know the color scheme? He said, no, I got it. I said, great.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

The color scheme was white text on a blue background, the same as David Duke's campaign signs. Neuberger says it cost him about $820 to print those backhandedly pro Edwards stickers. He plastered the first one on the bumper of his Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible.

[Interviewee/Participant]

I would be driving around and people would honk their horn and say, that's a great bumper sticker. Where did you get it? And I'd say, do you want one? And I'd pull over and open my trunk and take one out and hand one to them.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

There were other anti Duke slogans. No Dukes, Nuke Duke. David Dork for Fuhrer. Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard. But it was Neuberger's message that took off. Vote for the Crook. It's Important captured the dark comedy of an election in which the least horrifying candidate was a guy widely seen as the quintessentially shady Louisiana politician. But the bumper sticker also made it clear that this race wasn't a joke, that the stakes for the state had never been higher. Neuberger was trying to reach people in his own demographic. White conservatives who weren't sympathetic to Duke's bigotry but who had defined themselves in opposition to Edwards. Together, the Republican candidates had gotten 64% of the votes in the primary. If those votes stayed with the gop, then David Duke would be the next governor. Neuberger was asking his fellow Republicans to recognize that some things were even more important than vanquishing Edwin Edwards. The outcome of the governor's race wouldn't just be decided by Kirby Newberger types. Kent Smith was the student body president at the historically black Southern University in Baton Rouge.

[Kent Smith]

Just felt like we had to get engaged and kind of one of those not on our watch kind of things. As a student, even then, it was kind of, this can't be happening.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

When Duke made it to the runoff, Smith joined his fellow students in marching to the state Capitol. He also helped organize a voter registration drive with entertainment provided by the Southern University Marching Band.

[Kent Smith]

We're talking about over a thousand people, you know, in lines. And the concern was that they would leave when they saw the lines being so long to register. And so, you know, having the band there, the band for Southern nights, is a really, really big deal. And it made all the difference in the world. And so it became a festive gathering of positivity, if you will.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

The students at Southern University weren't alone. Close to 65,000 Louisianans would register in the two days after the primary in Jefferson Parish, David Duke's home Turf, more than 2,000 people were still in line when the office was scheduled to close at 8pm with three weeks to go until election Day, the race looked extremely tight. One poll showed Edwards with 46% of the vote and Duke at 42%, with 12% of voters still undecided. Lance Hill hadn't expected Duke to make the runoff and he found Duke's strength at the polls profoundly worrying. Hill was the executive director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, the state's most prominent anti Duke organization. He'd read most everything that Duke had written and he'd heard Duke disparage blacks and Jews in the harshest possible terms. He was constantly thinking about persuasion, about how to convince as many people as possible to see David Duke like he saw David Duke. During the month long stretch between the primary and the runoff, Hill got to talking with a man at a bar, a white working class guy who said he liked Duke and what Duke stood for. Hill tried to sway him. He said that Duke admired Adolf Hitler and that as governor, Duke would follow Hitler's playbook, winning power at the ballot box, then demolishing democratic institutions.

[Lance Hill]

And the guy said he was incredulous. He said, well he, he can't do that. And I said, what do you mean he can't do that? He said, this is America. You can't just get rid of democracy. And it really sunk into me that aside from the racism of Duke's movement and how it attracted people, they also believed that democracy was always safe. And that's very difficult objection to overcome in an argument.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

What arguments did David Duke's opponents make? Who did they hope to persuade? And what did it mean in those four weeks in 1991 to stand up and be counted? One of the most divisive elections any.

[Lance Hill]

State has seen in a long time.

[Interviewee/Participant]

Louisiana will tell us a good deal about the state of race relations and middle class frustration everywhere. Somehow the word has gotten out that.

[Kent Smith]

There'S a possibility that this could happen anywhere in America.

[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

This is slow burn. I'm josh levine. Episode 6 a concerned citizen. Hi. I hope you're enjoying this season of Slow burn. The last two episodes are available only to Slate plus members. You can sign up by going to slate.com slowburn or by clicking on the link in the show notes. It's only $15 for your first three months with your subscription. You also get access to bonus Slow Burn episodes with extra interviews and behind the scenes stories. And your membership lets you listen to every Slate show ad free and gives you unlimited access to Slate's website. So to hear the rest of the season and become a member, go to slate.com slowburn or click the link in the Episode Notes. Thanks for supporting our work.

[Interviewee/Participant]

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[Lance Hill]

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[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

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[Lance Hill]

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[Lance Hill]

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[Narrator (Josh Levin)]

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[Interviewee/Participant]

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