On Friday, I told you that Lehigh County Controller and State Senate wannabe basically put his foot in his mouth when he objected to plans to combine much of Allentown and Bethlehem into one state senatorial district. "[W]e don't need a ghetto," he told a redistricting committee. The backlash was fast and furious. Of course, his political opponents took him to task, and this was reported y most of the news outlets. I told you that The Morning Call, which has allowed Pinsely to promote himself on their pages, was strangely silent. But that was wrong. The Morning Call did, in fact, report on Pinsley's ghetto remark. It also noted the instant rebuke he received at the hearing. So Pinsley has been tagged by both dailies, WFMZ-TV69 as well as two local blogs.
I personally have no reason to believe Pinsley is any more bigoted than I. His remark is just another example of the subtle racism or classism ingrained in many of us. But rather than apologize, Pinsley said he was making a comparison to the Warsaw ghettos in which Jews were segregated. I find this explanation more offensive than his original remark. It;s clearly dishonest.
Notwithstanding his ghetto remark, Pinsley embraced MLK in an email message today.
"It is because of citizens like Dr. King that I am running for Pennsylvania State Senate," he tells his followers."
What is the aggregate crime rate and the number of welfare recipients per thousand within the proposed combined state senatorial district?
ReplyDeleteThere's much not to like about Pinsley, but that may have been the perspective from which he was looking at it, and that would not be unreasonable.
George Floyd’s death had a greater impact on the world than the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
ReplyDeleteJoe Biden in 2020
Pinsley ought to know all about segregation, the segregated nature of public schools in Lehigh County allow a privileged guy like him to move away from the "ghetto" to put his kids in a mostly white public school system. As a Democrat who's never missed an election in 35 years, I expect more from our public office holders. If Pinsley had just acted like a mature, grown up adult and admitted his mistake, I'd have forgotten the whole episode. His predictable, political ass covering response is disgusting. I hope this ignorant remark ends his political career.
ReplyDelete"George Floyd’s death had a greater impact on the world than the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr."
ReplyDeleteHas it really?? Those nearly 600 black murders in Philadephia in 2021 went largely unnoticed, not a single Black Lives Matter protest or event. Seems to me that unless a police officer is involved, no one cares about black lives. I would argue that the homicide rate of blacks seems to have increased since George Floyd.
I know Mark personally, and I can tell you he MEANS well. As unpopular as this will be, I think he did indeed mean "ghetto" in the historic context.
ReplyDeleteBut ... many people mean well. Mark needs to do a lot better with his actions and show some restraint and adaptability. He seems to want everything to be an epic battle when a lot of life and politics and boring and basic. I get anxiety whenever I see Mark's name in print, as in "What the hell did Mark say now?"
His MLK mailing was terribly strange and maybe the icing on the cake of Mark's ultimate political demise. Civil rights leaders, and rank and file activists, were beaten and murdered while fighting for their cause and basic human dignity. Mark gets paid by the government and uses his office to campaign. There is no comparison and Mark should be awfully ashamed.
"... mostly white public school system ..."
ReplyDeleteThe racism of this phrase notwithstanding, Pinsley's problem for many is that he gets school choice for he - but does not support it for thee, who cannot afford to move to leafy suburbs and must accept their local factory school solution.
12:55 PM. YOU have to ask Sleepy Joe. I only repeated what he said.
ReplyDelete6:34 AM
If his name were McClure he would be praised for his comments.
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