I'd seen this story and figured those who are supposed to be outraged would handle it, fine, fine... but Glenn at Hi. I'm Black! noticed something I didn't:
California education chief calls preschooler 'stupid dirty girl'
Riordan apologizes for remark
Friday, July 9, 2004 Posted: 7:13 AM EDT (1113 GMT)LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- State Education Secretary Richard Riordan jokingly told a child her name, Isis, meant "stupid dirty girl," prompting the head of the California NAACP on Thursday to call for his resignation.
…Democratic state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, who had scheduled a protest by civil rights organizations, canceled the demonstration after an apparent mix-up over the girl's racial background.
Dymally was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News Thursday saying the child was "a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?"
The girl is white, with blonde hair.
Dymally did not return telephone calls. His office issued a statement Wednesday calling Riordan's remarks to the girl "outrageous and irresponsible," then issued another statement Thursday saying, "To err is human; to forgive is divine."
"Race is not a factor in this issue," Dymally said in Thursday's statement, adding that Riordan had apologized a second time. "It is time for us to move on."
… though for different reasons than Glenn did…and btw, bruh, it wasn't the NAACP that planned and cancelled. That confusion, where one sees "civil rights groups" and thinks "NAACP" is why I call bullshit. It's hard enough being a partisan without some politician screwing your rep up.
One of my old professors called the NAACP the "National Association for the Advancement of CERTAIN Colored People."
Posted by glenn at July 10, 2004 01:12 PM