Mayor complains to Human Rights Commission about "Being White in Philly" article
Controversy over that problematic Philadelphia magazine March cover story called "Being White in Philly" continues to simmer. In the latest development, Mayor Michael Nutter has sent a letter to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations decrying the "disgusting" tone of the piece.
Mayor complains to Human Rights Commission about "Being White in Philly" article
Jenice Armstrong, Daily News Columnist
Controversy over that problematic Philadelphia magazine March cover story called “Being White in Philly” continues to simmer. In the latest development, Mayor Michael Nutter has sent a letter to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations decrying the “disgusting” tone of the piece and accusing the magazine of having “sunk to a new low even for a publication that has long pretended that its suburban readers were the only citizens civically engaged and socially active in the Philadelphia area.” In the piece, based on anonymous interviews, Robert Huber makes the claim that white people are afraid to talk about race for fear of being called racist.
“That the magazine thought a collection of these despicable, over-generalized, mostly anonymous assumptions rose to the level of journalism is unfortunate enough,” the mayor wrote. “Worse, some of the residents of the nation’s fifth-largest city who are quoted in the piece seem to have ignored every positive anecdote they might otherwise have shared about a positive experience with African-Americans in favor of negative stories, many of them not even clearly attributable to African-Americans at all, to allow the author to feed his own misguided perception of African-Americans – notwithstanding his own acknowledged daily experiences on his own block – as an ethnic group that, in its entirety, is lazy, shiftless, irresponsible, and largely criminal.”
Nutter asked that the Human Relations Commission “consider specifically whether Philadelphia magazine and the writer, Bob Huber are appropriate for rebuke by the Commission in light of the potentially inflammatory effect and the reckless endangerment to Philadelphia’s racial relations possibly caused by the essay’s unsubstantiated assertions.”
Commission head Rue Landau has already responded saying, “The Commissioners and I share the concerns of the Mayor regarding the racial insensitivity and perpetuation of harmful stereotypes portrayed in the Philadelphia Magazine piece. We will take up the Mayor’s charge and, as a matter of fact, we are already looking at intergroup relations in the city, particularly in changing communities.”
The commision will take up the topic at their next public meeting which will be in the Fairmount/Brewerytown community, the geographical focus of the Philly mag piece. The meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 18 at a location to be announced.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Philadelphia magazine editor Tom McGrath sent me an email on March 15 confirming details about a March 18 panel discussion called “Can We Talk About Race?” McGrath will moderate the discussion at the National Constitution Center which will be followed by a town hall session. Robert Huber, author of “Being White in Philly,” will be on the panel as will writer Solomon Jones, activist Chris Norris and Farah Jiminez , who heads up the People’s Emergency Center.
On March 19, McGrath is scheduled to meet with members of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. Norris, along with some Temple University, has organized a “Being in Philly” gathering for March 20, the first day of spring. There’ll be music and free water ice giveaways. Norris, the founder of Techbook Online, says he wants to show a positive side of black life in Philadelphia. According to Norris, Huber has agreed to attend.
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A good mayor speaks up on behalf of his citizens no matter what color they are.- Philly Mag was right...racists cant stand being called out...nothing but a bunch of professional victims.
Paid by the Govt to continue their plight....— Professor1982 
We need to have an open and honest discussion about race. But if you talk about it, we'll label you a racist and turn the Democrat party Grievance Commission and media loose on you. Forward.— b,ill a,tkins- Bill Clinton tried and got impeached.
With that being said, I agree with you 70%, which is passing.— Cuddles - An article saying whites can't talk about race without being racist...gets blasted as being racist. Way to Play your role Mayor Nutt— MayorNutt
- I also give my respect to Jenice for being able to deal with all the racist backlash whenever she tries to enlighten people. This is a terribly racist city like New York is. Jen, you need to cover the murder of that 16 year-old boy in East Flatbush, Brooklyn last weekend and the protests and arrests that followed all this week. They have a media blackout there and no reporters are allowed to cover events. Bloomberg is keeping it quiet, as per usual.
- The Mayor has nothing better to do than deflect from his failure as a mayor and a leader. People get along or they dont.
The real issue is crime and the economy and generations of households without strong families and respect for others (= no fathers in the house)Oh yes and also easier to be a peer hood than be a student— Steelmanpa - This guy might be the Biggest Yutz in America. He can't collect taxes, he can't give a speech in City Council, he's too dumb to be hired by Obama, and now he's being played by Philadelphia magazine. Would somebody throw a towel over him?— eaglescali
- More black men killed by other black men every year than in 10 years of 2 Wars in the Middle East. 1 in 4 local tax dollars in Philadelphia are spent on violence. And the policies cannot even be questioned without the smear squads going on the offensive .
Police Chief Ramsey is allowed to say it---But because the "disease" afflicts African American males - who more often than not are victim and shooter - we respond with silence.
'Where are we going?'
"I'll give you my police radio and let you listen to the descriptions," Ramsey offers. " Male black, male black, male black, male black. One after the other. All day long."
As a black man and father of a son, "it makes me feel bad," Ramsey admits. "It makes me feel like, 'Where are we going?' "— tr88 - Someone let Nutter know that Ramsey is listening to a racist police radio. — FreddyNits
- I have read so so many article written by black men and women that are overtly racist. Nobody ever says anything, especially in the black community. The whites just suck it up and move on. Now, someone writes an article about how some whites feel, and there is a massive uproar. Chill people. I guess we will see demonstrations, black church leaders condemning the white devil, and increased welfare benefits. Mayor Nutter, a quiet telephone call to the magazine to voice your concerns would have been the best approach. Now just drop it, leave it alone, and move on. Breathe deep, just like we have to when we see what is happening to our property tax and wage tax dollars, and move on.— misterpond
- "The Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world will be in Philadelphia tomorrow if a cop shoots some kid, especially if it's a white cop and black kids," Ramsey fumes, "but where is the outrage when you have black-on-black crime that goes on constantly in these neighborhoods?"
Ramsey notes that while hundreds of Philadelphians marched for justice for Florida teen Trayvon Martin, a West Philadelphia teen, Yasin Harvey, 16, was senselessly gunned down while walking to the store.— tr88 - Huber interviews some whites in Philly about their interactions with blacks and because it wasn't filtered through rose colored glasses, it's racist.— FreddyNits
- Philadelphia Magazine actually sunk to a new low when it had the cover that said something like "baby boomers please die already". Why didn't Nutter say something about that?— The_Unknown-Poster
- I'm white and grew up in the city and think that was the most irrelevant article I've come across. It says nothing, has no real point, and left me cold. If anything it was ameteurish and naive.— Filly5
Read more from Jenice Armstrong at Earth to Philly, the Daily News blog on anything and everything "Green."
Reach Jenice at armstrj@phillynews.com.
