"Hands," also known as "White Hands," was a political television commercial aired during the

1990 United States Senate election in North Carolina The North Carolina United States Senate election of 1990 was held on November 6, 1990, as part of the nationwide elections to the Senate. The general election was fought between the Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and the Democratic nominee ...

by the campaign of incumbent Republican

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the ...

. The ad targeted Helms's Democratic challenger,

Harvey Gantt Harvey Bernard Gantt (born January 14, 1943) is an American architect and Democratic politician active in North Carolina. The first African-American student admitted to Clemson University after attending Iowa State University, Gantt graduated w ...

, and became one of the most controversial and widely discussed political advertisements in modern American history.

Content and production

The advertisement depicts the hands of a white man in a plaid shirt reading and then crumpling a job rejection letter. A somber voiceover states: "You needed that job, and you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a

racial quota Racial quotas in employment and education are numerical requirements or quotas for hiring, promoting, admitting and/or graduating members of a particular racial group. Racial quotas are often established as means of diminishing racial discrimi ...

. Is that really fair?" The ad then contrasts Helms and Gantt by claiming that Gantt supported "racial quotas" and that Helms opposed them, specifically referencing Gantt's support for the proposed

Civil Rights Act of 1990 The Civil Rights Act of 1990 was a bill that, had it been signed into law, would have made it easier for litigants in race or sex discrimination cases to win. It was introduced into the 101st United States Congress on February 7, 1990, by Senator ...

, which the ad labeled as "

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...

's racial quota law." The ad was written and produced by Republican media consultant

Alex Castellanos Alejandro Castellanos (born 1954) is a Cuban-American political consultant. He has worked on electoral campaigns for Republican candidates including Bob Dole, George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, and Mitt Romney. In 2008, Castellanos, a partner at Nationa ...

. Carter Wrenn, a longtime North Carolina Republican strategist, was also involved in the process and later acknowledged the ad as a clear example of

race-baiting Incitement to ethnic or racial hatred is a crime under the laws of several countries. Australia In Australia, the Racial Hatred Act 1995 amends the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, inserting Part IIA – Offensive Behaviour Because of Race, Colou ...

Political context

The 1990 North Carolina Senate race was closely contested. Gantt, the former

mayor of Charlotte The office of the Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina is currently held by Democrat Vi Lyles, who took office in December 2017 after defeating Republican Kenny Smith in the November election. The office was established in 1853, when William F. ...

and the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to be a major party candidate for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina, led in polls shortly before the election. The Helms campaign’s use of the "White Hands" ad is widely credited with shifting momentum in the final days, contributing to Helms’s narrow victory.

Reception and legacy

The "White Hands" ad was immediately controversial. Critics argued that it played on white resentment and racial fears, misrepresented

affirmative action Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

as a system of rigid quotas, and implied that minorities were unfairly taking jobs from more qualified white applicants. Supporters of the ad claimed it highlighted legitimate policy differences regarding affirmative action. The advertisement is frequently cited as a classic example of

negative campaigning Negative campaigning is the process of deliberately spreading negative information about someone or something to damage their public image. A colloquial and more derogatory term for the practice is mudslinging. Deliberate spreading of such in ...

and racial " dog-whistle" politics in late 20th-century America. Its legacy continues to be discussed in analyses of political strategy,

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in th ...

, and the evolution of campaign advertising.

Content and production

Political context

Reception and legacy

References

Further reading