2nd protest set seeking ouster of PB official

Post called accidental was too hurtful, opponents say

PINE BLUFF -- Protesters plan to gather at Pine Bluff City Hall before tonight's City Council meeting to call for Alderman Bill Brumett's resignation in the second protest in less than a week over what Brumett has said was the unintentional use of a racial slur online.

Brumett, who is white, and Pine Bluff native J.C. Cunningham, who is black, were arguing back and forth about city issues recently on a public-access Facebook forum when Brumett said he became agitated that Cunningham kept misspelling his name.

Brumett said he decided to intentionally misspell Cunningham's name out of frustration and typed "Cooninham," when he meant to type "Cuuningham." In a written statement, the alderman said typing "coon" -- which has a long history as a racial epithet -- was unintentional.

"After I became aware that Mr. Cunningham is an African-American, and after consideration of the implications of what I wrote, despite the fact that I never intended to make any racial statement, I decided that it would be in the best interests of all concerned for me to make a public apology to Mr. Cunningham, in writing, in the same venue as the original comment," Brumett said.

"I have made that apology to Mr. Cunningham on Facebook and electronically to Mr. Cunningham."

Brumett has said previously that he has no plans to step down.

Nadeen Johnson of Pine Bluff plans to attend tonight's protest and said whether or not the alderman meant to type the slur is irrelevant.

"If someone doesn't realize what they are typing, doesn't it mean they are incompetent, especially when they type such a hurtful word as this?" Johnson said. "I just don't understand how a grown man could do that and not realize it. It just doesn't make sense to me."

Around the city and on social media, the issue has been a popular conversation topic over the past week.

At the Pines Mall on Friday afternoon, a group of five women -- three black and two white -- sat enjoying cups of coffee during a shopping trip. The women said they have thoroughly discussed the issue, as they do with many topics related to city business. Three agreed that Brumett should be forgiven and that he didn't mean to type the racial epithet.

Linda Hall and Regina Jackson, both of whom are black, said that while they believe in second chances and may forgive the alderman on a personal level, he should resign.

"You can't have someone in a position of power with this hanging over their heads," Hall said. "How can he ever serve effectively with people thinking that he may have racism in his heart?"

Jackson nodded in agreement.

"There are many black people in this community who could never forgive someone for saying that word. It's worse than other racial slurs," Jackson said. "It's just bad, and I don't see how [Brumett] will ever be able to recover from this."

Pine Bluff's population of about 50,000 is more than 70 percent black, and Brumett is the only white alderman on the eight-member City Council. He took office in 1996 and is the body's longest-serving member.

Last week, the Pine Bluff branch of the NAACP and others asked Brumett to resign at a rally that drew about 75 people. NAACP officials said they believe the alderman purposely used the racial slur during the online squabble with Cunningham.

Aldermen Thelma Walker and Lloyd Holcomb Jr. attended the event and are also calling for Brumett's resignation.

Wanda Neal, president of the Pine Bluff NAACP branch, said Brumett betrayed the trust of those who elected him, adding that "our community cannot racially heal when leadership takes this kind of behavior."

Cunningham has not spoken publicly about the post, though he issued a statement that was read by his mother, Donna Cunningham, at last week's NAACP rally. She said her son has not accepted Brumett's apology and doesn't plan to.

"I cannot imagine sitting at a computer and typing a form of someone's last name and using a racial slur without realizing it," J.C. Cunningham wrote in his statement. "The insertion of such words would be automatically clear to me. Mr. Brumett should have been keenly aware that more than a misspelling had occurred in his sentence."

State Desk on 04/06/2015

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