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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMichigan official defends using racist slur while refusing to wear a mask.
A local road commission meeting in northern Michigan on Monday started with one commissioner asking another why he wasnt wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The unmasked official responded with a racist slur and an angry rant against the Black Lives Matter movement.
Well, this whole thing is because of them n-----s in Detroit, Tom Eckerle, who was elected to his position on the Leelanau County Road Commission in 2018, told his colleague at the start of the public meeting.
The commission chairman, Bob Joyce, immediately rebuked his colleague, but Eckerle continued his diatribe.
I can say anything I want, Eckerle said at the meeting, which the public could listen to via a dial-in number, the Leelanau Enterprise first reported. Black Lives Matter has everything to do with taking the country away from us.
The racist remark spurred widespread
condemnation of Eckerle, who is Republican, and calls to resign from party officials. Despite the backlash, Eckerle doubled down on his comments on Thursday, defending his position and using the slur repeatedly in an interview with the local public radio station.
I dont regret calling it an n----r, Eckerle told Interlochen Public Radio. A n----r is a n----r is a n----r. Thats not a person whatsoever.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/07/michigan-mask-racist-slur/#click=https://t.co/DxRMoJFdc
dlk
(11,425 posts)Who knew so many Americans were emotional two year olds?
ornotna
(10,763 posts)We don't need no stinking dog whistle.
Evil assholes
The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)If this guy had a shrine to Donald Trump in his home, I'd not be the least bit surprised.
obamanut2012
(25,905 posts)This isn't even close to being as subtle as a dog whistle.
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)Remember, this is northern Michigan during the Trump era. At least in the 1860s, Confederates "knew their place" and wasted oxygen south of the Ohio River.
These cretins have "overbreeded" to all corners of our nation.
(Naturally, I'm using the same racist terms Eckerle would use in discussing people of color.)
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,481 posts)obamanut2012
(25,905 posts)literally it's in the public record
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,481 posts)make it about the entire party. Same as these knuckle dragging goat fuckers would do to us.
tavernier
(12,322 posts)CurtEastPoint
(18,548 posts)Butterflylady
(3,523 posts)Johnny2X2X
(18,733 posts)Absolutely a gorgeous part of the state, but outside the Summer homes it's a cesspool of racism, white supremacy, and neo-nazis. Drove up through there just a couple years ago, saw more than a couple Swaztika flags flying. Have family outside of Petosky, this is no surprise to me.
I don't think middle America realizes how hateful rural America is in a lot of places. This guy isn't stepping down because he knows he has the support of more than half the people. There's large swaths of this state where the white population only knows about minorities what FOX News tells them.
Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)...the area outside Mackinaw City is way scarier.
Paladin
(28,202 posts)There are bound to be some around. Maximum circulation in a pro-Biden campaign ad.
obamanut2012
(25,905 posts)Oh, wait...
gollygee
(22,336 posts)I respond that no, we have plenty of racism in Michigan and we aren't even vaguely southern. Case in point here.