06 May 2013 Project 21’s Exclusive Interview with Michigan Public Official Called the “N-Word” Available Online
Slurred Supervisor and Manager Who Recorded It Talk With Black Conservative Activist About Feelings, Future and Forgiveness
Washington, D.C. – A white elected township clerk in central Michigan was recently caught on tape describing another local elected official who is black by using the n-word. Exclusive interviews with that maligned black official and the person who got the slur on tape are now able to be viewed on the blog of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Both are interviewed by Stacy Swimp, a member of the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network.
“In this society… these words are not tolerable — particularly when you are an elected government official,” said Buena Vista Township supervisor Dwayne Parker, the target of the slur in his interview with Project 21’s Swimp. “It’s not appropriate behavior.”
During a business call recorded this past January with interim township manager Dexter Mitchell, Buena Vista Township clerk Gloria Platko referred to Parker as a “arrogant nigger.” Mitchell made the contents of the call public on April 22, and all of the voting members of the Buena Vista Township government other than Platko voted in favor of a resolution calling for her to resign on April 30. The local chapter of the NAACP and the Michigan Democratic Party are calling on Platko to resign. She remains in office.
Project 21’s Swimp, a Michigan resident, sat down with Parker and Mitchell — interviewing them separately about the incident. Swimp asked the pair about how they are dealing with the incident, how it has affected the business of government in Buena Vista Township and if they can forgive Platko for what she said about Parker.
Both interviews are available on the blog of the National Center for Public Policy Research by clicking here. The post also contains a recording of the call between Platko and Mitchell.
In his interview with Project 21’s Swimp, Mitchell said of the offensive call he recorded: “My boss just told me that ‘I’m going to say something that I know you’re not going to like,’ and now my boss is telling me ‘I don’t care of you don’t like it — I’m gonna say it anyway.’… If you know I’m not going to like it, why do you say it?”
Stacy Swimp, a member of the Project 21 black leadership network and president of the Frederick Douglass Society, is also the chairman and national liaison for the Diversity Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors of Greater Michigan. He is a frequent public speaker on civil rights and the promotion of right-to-work policies. A video posted earlier this year of Swimp defending gun rights at a Washington, D.C. press conference went viral — earning over 400,000 views on multiple web sites. Just this year, Swimp’s work with Project 21 resulted in over 70 interviews and media citations.
Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for over two decades, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research (https://nationalcenter.org).
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