The newly re-elected President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen has called a controversial state Senator "unfit to lead," and is asking her to step down over remarks she made about black politicians who are supporting local control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
During an appearance on "The Bernie Hayes Show" yesterday, State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, called the efforts to wrest control of the department away from a state-appointed board "nothing different than what slave politics was."
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Chappelle-Nadal compared Sinquefield to a "plantation owner." "What these plantation owners like Rex Sinquefield are doing is using some of their house slaves that are elected in St. Louis," Chappelle-Nadal said. "They're actually disguising the conversation and saying this is a civil rights issue." Chappelle-Nadal, who is from University City, says she is "off the plantation. I'm a Missouri state senator. I'm no longer on a plantation."
Sinquefield, the libertarian billionaire, is funding a local control ballot measure in case legislative efforts fail.
In a statement released today, Board President Lewis Reed called Chapelle-Nadal's remarks "deplorable" and "an insult to me as a father of four, as an African American male and to all African Americans across the nation." The statement points out that several prominent groups, including the NAACP and 100 Black Men support local control.
Reed's statement concludes:
I am formally asking the Senator to step down and will be actively seeking out individuals in her Senatorial district to help out this effort. Racism cannot be tolerated and the people of University City deserve better. Don Imus didn't get a pass and neither should Maria Chapelle-Nadal."
