Who You Callin’ a N***a?!
Sorry about the blunt headline, but I had something that I had to get off of my chest this morning.
Now you might be thinking that I encountered racism this weekend and am writing about it. Not really. I’m going back, once again, to Thursday night’s Washington Township Board meeting. In addition to a nearly 70-percent raise, board member Joe Simpson, who happens to be black, dropped the n-word against RTV 6 photographer, Eldon Wheeler. My colleague Norm Cox blogged about the exchange…
…my photographer, Eldon Wheeler, attempted to place a microphone on the table. Simpson angrily told him he couldn’t do it, because there wouldn’t be enough room for his papers. Actually, there was plenty of room, to say nothing of Simpson’s apparent ignorance of things like Open Meetings laws and the media’s right to record the board’s sessions. But Eldon complied peaceably and moved the mike away from Simpson.
When the meeting was over Eldon went up to pick up his equipment and asked Simpson what his problem was with having a microphone at the table. Simpson then started yelling at him, saying, among other things, “You can’t talk to me that way!” It finally escalated to the point where Simpson screamed, “You might as well just called me a n*****!” At that point, Simpson started moving forward threateningly. Fortunately, the table was between them and two board members grabbed Simpson to restrain him. Trustee Frank Short came over to separate everyone and things somewhat calmed down.
I would like to say that I could not believe that Simpson would drop the n-word. I would like to say that, but there’s no way I’m going to. Simpson is typical of African-Americans who get caught doing something they know is wrong and have no explanation for and so they retreat behind the shield of racism while trying to use it as a sword for an attack.
I can honestly say knowing Eldon, that the n-word would be the last word in his vocabulary, if at all. He’s an old-school television photographer who is a professional. And for Simpson to drop the n-word to deflect from his own shameless and ignorant behavior is ridiculous. Which ironically is one of the definitions associated with the n-word.
I would say that Simpson should apologize for his words, but that’s asking too much. He is typical of an outdated racial mindset that wants to be treated as equals but when they get called on the carpet for their actions, hide behind racism. You can’t have it both ways, Joe. Using the n-word to draw attention away from your narcissistic-inspired 70-pay raise isn’t doing anybody any good, least of all yourself.
Now if I was mean and spiteful, I would post your unlisted private cell number here so people and voters of Washington Township could call you and express their outrage. But I won’t. I’ll let them voice their opinions here in this forum and other places.
To post your unlisted number would be acting like a n***a, and my parents raised me better than that.
