"Hands," sometimes known as "White Hands," was a controversial

political advertisement In politics, campaign advertising is the use of an advertising campaign through the media to Social influence, influence a political debate, and ultimately, voters. These ads are designed by political consulting, political consultants and polit ...

that aired on television during the 1990 United States Senate election in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

by the political campaign of

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

criticizing his opponent,

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 wi ...

, for being in favor of

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

. The advertisement is considered to be an important factor in Helms's narrow victory over Gantt and was written and produced by

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 Nation ...

. The advertisement shows the hands of a white man in a plaid shirt reading and then crumpling up a job rejection letter while a voiceover says, "You needed that job, and you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota. Is that really fair?" The advertisement compared Helms to Gantt by saying that Gantt was "for racial quotas" and that Helms was against them. In particular, it accused Gantt of supporting "

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

's racial quota law."

References

Jesse Helms Political campaign advertisements 1990s television commercials Ted Kennedy Conservative media in the United States {{US-politics-stub