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Racial politics surface in race for D.A.
Three prominent African American supporters of Seth Williams, the Democratic candidate for Philadelphia district attorney, yesterday accused his Republican opponent, Michael Untermeyer, of "lacking the racial sensitivity" required of a top prosecutor "in an ethnically diverse city."
Untermeyer, who is white, immediately branded the charge "ludicrous" and "a smoke screen" meant to obscure examination of the campaign's substantive issues.
"This election isn't about race. . . . What's important is that we have the third-highest homicide rate of any big city" in the nation, and a bail system that is broken, he said.
Untermeyer showed up uninvited, unannounced, and unwelcome at a news conference called by State Sen. Anthony Williams, NAACP president J. Whyatt Mondesire, and the Rev. Audrey Brunson, president of Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity.
The GOP candidate said he was there only to defend himself, but his presence in the meeting room at the National Constitution Center led to a brief flaring of tempers over whether he had a right to speak at an event planned and paid for by his opponent's supporters.
The allegation leveled yesterday by Anthony Williams, Mondesire, and Brunson stemmed from a comment Untermeyer made two weeks ago in a televised debate. The moderator cited what appeared to be a statistically disproportionate number of blacks from Philadelphia on Pennsylvania's death row, and asked if "racial profiling" figures into the D.A.'s decisions to seek the death penalty.
"The question is, is there racial profiling, and the answer is no, there is no racial profiling," Untermeyer had answered.
Williams, the senator, yesterday quoted from a 2003 Pennsylvania Supreme Court study of racial and gender disparities in the criminal justice system. The high court, he said, had found "strong indications that Pennsylvania's capital justice system does not operate in an evenhanded manner."
He contended that Untermeyer's failure to make that finding part of his answer "reflects a limited understanding of how the D.A.'s Office works and disqualifies" his candidacy.
After some verbal sparring about how and when he could present his views, Untermeyer challenged the three to raise their concern about racial profiling where he thought it more appropriately belonged.
He noted that former Assistant District Attorney Roger King, who is black, was the office's top homicide prosecutor for 25 years and that candidate Williams, who is biracial, had a leadership position in the office for more than 10 years. He suggested they ask not only those two, but also current D.A. Lynne Abraham, who is white, if the office engaged in racial profiling.
Anthony Williams said that he had spoken with Seth Williams after the televised debate, and that the candidate was "offended" by Untermeyer's answer. However, the senator maintained that the tone, manner, and timing of yesterday's news conference, attended by a handful of media and about 10 supporters, had not been coordinated with Seth Williams' campaign.
Tasha Jamerson, spokeswoman for the Williams campaign, said, "We had nothing to do with the news conference."
In a prepared statement, candidate Williams said, "If residents in the city are upset about my opponent's comments on race, they have every right to air those concerns."
Contact staff writer Michael Matza
at 215-854-2541 or mmatza@phillynews.com.
