Human Relations Commission disappointed with "Being White in Philly" article
And some people say we don't talk enough about race.
Human Relations Commission disappointed with "Being White in Philly" article
Jenice Armstrong, Daily News Columnist
And some people say we don't talk enough about race. Five years ago today, Pres. Obama gave his famous speech on the topic at the National Constitution Center.
Tonight, the Consitution Center will be host a panel discussion on race, that was prompted by Philadelphia Magazine's controversial March cover story called, "Being White in Philly."
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission has sent a letter to Tom McGrath, editor of Philadelphia Magazine, expressing concern about the piece and invited McGrath and his colleagues to attend the commission's next public meeting on April 18 to be held in the Fairmount/Brewerytown area of the city. No location has been determined as of yet.
"Like the mayor and a multitude of other community and faith-based leaders, the PCHR finds the the article's hyperbolic rhetoric serves little to no useful purpose except to offend the city's African American community at large," Rue Landau said in a letter to McGrath. Read the full letter here.
Don't want to offend the African American at large? Is it racist to say that, in Philadelphia, almost every murder and violent crime is committed by a Black man. Why won't Black leaders ever address this fact?— farley- Hey how about the fact that Jesse Jackson said if he hears someone lurking behind him in a city and then sees a white guy, he feels relieved. How damning is that? — hipdaddy
- This is blatantly false. If you are murdered in the city of philadelphia, you are most likely black. If you are doing the killing you can be black or white in about equal numbers. Please feel free though to think your racist thoughts are confirmed by facts that don't exist.
http://www.phillypolice.com/about/crime-statistics/— jonline - I don't need to look at those stats to know African Americans are committing more murders than Caucasian.
- Did you even look at the statistics you linked to? — tr88
- Jonline - Help me out and show me specifically WHERE it indicates what you are saying...
— Professor1982 - Jonline: What statistics are you viewing? Or are you just a member of the Phila Human Relations Commission? — Sammy from Macungie
- FYI: Jonline's own link displays the numbers in all their horror; Blacks make up 67-84% of murder victims overall (11 and 12)and black offenders were 66-84%. I will debate why this is occurring, but the facts themselves are irrefutable. — shirleyf
- Your point?— EP_Represent
- Much like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP, where would the Human Relations Commission be if there wasnt any racism???
Just another example of Professional Victims.— Professor1982 - This backlash is the exact purpose of the article. Which is: A white man cant point things out without backlash of the AA community. They are validating his point loud and clear. I find the whole thing hysterically ironic.— hipdaddy
- The backlash is because it was a racist article. You can discuss race easily and freely n philadelhia if you don't come from the view of us and them. — jonline
- Philly.com and PhillyMag are just playing this article off of each other to drive up more buzz for themselves.— AreaMan
- The "Commission" has no power or relevance, so regardless of how stupid the article is, who cares what they think? The clowns at Philly Mag are laughing more each day at how much mention this thing is getting.— draka
- After all this blow-back, the author should be kicking himself for writing such a milquetoast article and not producing a more accurate, hard-hitting story--things are a lot worse than anything Huber managed to get into print; he should have gone big because the political machine doesn't want this topic discussed and will not tolerate anything like it again.— frontandwildey
Read more from Jenice Armstrong at Earth to Philly, the Daily News blog on anything and everything "Green."
Reach Jenice at armstrj@phillynews.com.
