Thursday, October 21, 2010
Stupid / Guv'ment Warner Robins councilman's racist 'cotton field' comment to black colleague unexpectedly fails to resolve disagreement
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 1:59 PM
Good luck getting a United Colors of Benetton after this little mix-up, Warner Robins!
A white councilman in the central Georgia city has been accused of telling his colleague, who's black, that he should be working in a cotton field. Councilman Daron Lee, the target of the comments, says it's the second times he's heard insensitive remarks made by his colleagues.
Macon's WMAZ reports:
Not the best way to resolve a disagreement, John! Williams tells the WMAZ his comment wasn't racist because, hey, even he once worked in a cotton field. The local NAACP chapter director told CNN he thinks Williams should resign.
The exchange happened during a motion by [Councilman] Daron Lee. He wanted to clarify a contract for an investigation by former city clerk Stan Martin into city business.Lee and three other council members voted for Martin to continue the inquiry, but John Williams, Mayor Chuck Shaheen and Tom Simms Jr. oppose his hiring.
The disagreement prompted Williams to interrupt Lee.
Lee stopped Williams, saying, "I was disrespected last Monday. I'm getting about tired of you all, talking to me any kind of way. I'm not working in a cotton field."
Williams replied, "You should be."
WMAZ's video, which includes Williams' comment and some down-South drama, is after the jump.
Comments (10)
Showing 1-10 of 10
welllll, i have to say - if i don't want people to say i should work in a cotton field, i know not to start off an argument by saying that i don't work in a cotton field.
one statement is almost certainly gonna lead to the next.
that said - i'm glad i don't live in macon. they seem to have problems seeing anything other than skin color.
like
dislike
After watching his interview on tv last night, i don't think the guy (Williams) meant his comment in a racist way.
I think he meant it in the 'yer incompentent' (sp) way - not sure that's any better...
All that said, at this point in his life and in this world Williams should have known better.
To W-W-W's comment: Macon's race relations problem are kept quiet but apparently very well known.
It isn't specifically "cotton field" that's so racist here, it is the sentiment behind the retort "you should be". For instance, if you replace "cotton field" with any generic undesirable work situation the implication is the same. You could hardly get any more anti-American than to say a person should be limited to a particular profession or should be excluded from one.
There sure are a lot of grammatical errors in this article. Maybe someone from the staff should be demoted to "cotton detail".
In an argument, a person should not open himself up to a jab. Here, Lee set up the jab by his feeble defense, "I'm not working in a cotton field." Thus, he set himself up and left himself open to the retort: "You should be."
A person can get hurt by verbal boxing as much as if a person were in the physical arena. Williams is not throwing the first race-card punch: Lee is.
Lee is so typical of the south. Boo hoo. If someone does not agree with me, I will make it a racial issue. He started it.....
not classy, "gfdgdfg".
and without an punctuation, it's hard to tell what exactly the guy is trying to say.
is it possible that "gfdgdfg" is an angry, poorly educated white retard and is saying fuck you to blacks, from all whites?
if so, lemme fix that for him:
"fuck you.
whites"
still, it's kinda rude if you ask me. i know a black fella and i think it would be disrespectful to speak to him like that.
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