Jaw-droppingly racist quote from an HOA board representative in my newspaper

[Tommy_Carcetti]

18. My email to the Central Beach Alliance

Dear Sir/Madam:



I just wanted to express my feelings and concerns about the opinions expressed by your current director and former President, Fred Carlson, in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as it relates to the recent verdict in the George Zimmerman case.

The full quote, lest I be accused of taking Mr. Carlson out of context, is as follows:

"The Zimmerman jurors rose above the prejudice of the judge, the drama-seeking media, the prosecutor, the vicious racism of the liberal establishment in Washington and sadly, that of a vocal segment of the black population. "Hold on," you might say, "What about white racism?" Reverse the color of Zimmerman and Martin. To have a black neighborhood watch guy would seem to be playing with fire. Would he be fair to a teenage white guy in a hoodie? Yes, it would be OK if the black watch guy was a regular cop, doing an off-duty detail. Otherwise, I would feel that the black guy might be prone to violence, racial hatred. I kept coming back to the fact that the prison population is predominantly black, and that violence against whites, by blacks, is a fact of life in our cities. The lack of family life, a father at home, seems to me to be a major factor contributing to black youth crime."

Of my greatest concern is Mr. Carlson's belief that a black neighborhood watchman would automatically be pre-disposed to engage in acts of racially motivated violence, apparently solely on the basis of his race.

Now it is true that Mr. Carlson, as a citizen of this country, has the right to express his opinions in any way without fear of criminal punishment or civil sanction from the government. And the Sun-Sentinel has the right to publish those opinions without similar recourse. Both of those rights are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

However, it should be noted that your organization-the Central Broward Alliance-is not the public government, but instead a private entity.Furthermore, you are an umbrella group of various homeowners organizations. I am assuming that in the various communities that make up the Central Beach Alliance, there are representatives of a wide multitude of races and ethnicities, including African Americans. Would you have any doubt that they would likely feel uncomfortable to have their own character prejudged simply on the basis of their skin color? Would you blame them for feeling such a way?

While I realize that Mr. Carlson was likely speaking on an individual capacity (although his affiliation with the Central Beach Alliance was noted by the Sun-Sentinel), what sort of message is being sent to the African American residents in your communities when a member of your own board of directors is espousing beliefs that are-bluntly speaking-highly offensive and highly racist?

In his biography on the Sun-Sentinel website, Mr. Carlson lists himself as your organization's liaison to the Fort Lauderdale city government. At some point you have to ask yourself: Is this the type of person we as a group want representing us to the public?

Apparently, Mr. Carlson is Ivy-League educated and enjoyed a long, successful career in the financial sector in New York. He should know better. But-apparently-he did not.

I cannot tell you how you as an organization approach Mr. Carlson's comments. Whether Mr. Carlson remains as a director and/or as a liaison to the city government is entirely up to you. However, at the very least, the proper thing to do would be to issue a statement on behalf of the CBA strongly condemning Mr. Carlson's contemptible views, and re-iterating to the community that you are an association of communities welcoming to all races, ethnicities, religions, genders and orientations.

For the record, I am not a resident of any community within the Central Beach Alliance. Also for the record, I am white. I write to you today only as a concerned private citizen who believes in doing the right thing. And the right thing most certainly needs to be done in this instance.

Thank you kindly,

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