NAACP branch urges PB official to resign over post

PINE BLUFF -- The Pine Bluff branch of the NAACP and others asked Tuesday for a city alderman to resign, saying he purposely used a racial slur during an online debate.

Pine Bluff Alderman Bill Brumett said he has no plans to resign and remains committed to serving his Ward 3 constituents.

Brumett, who is white, and Pine Bluff native J.C. Cunningham, who is black, were arguing back and forth about city issues on a public-access Facebook forum recently 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 said 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.

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

At an NAACP rally held Tuesday on the steps of Pine Bluff City Hall, Wanda Neal, president of the Pine Bluff branch, told a group of about 75 people that the organization believes Brumett meant to use a racial slur.

"We will not tolerate such behavior; we will not stand for it," Neal said. "Those days are long gone. Mr. Brumett has betrayed the trust of those who elected him, and our community cannot racially heal when leadership takes this kind of behavior.

"While we respect Alderman Brumett's years of dedication to our city ... we are putting Alderman Brumett on notice. There is no place in politics for such behavior. If he does not resign, we assure you that the Pine Bluff branch of the NAACP will be watching and will act accordingly."

Reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, Brumett reiterated that the use of the word "coon" in the misspelling of Cunningham's last name was unintentional.

"I would never do anything like that on purpose, and those who know me know I wouldn't," Brumett said. "I have had a lot of support, a lot of people calling me who I have not heard from in 10 or 15 years, asking that I not resign. I have no plans to resign. I will continue representing the people of Ward 3."

Two of Brumett's fellow aldermen -- Thelma Walker and Lloyd Holcomb Jr. -- have publicly called for his resignation.

Cunningham's mother, Donna Cunningham, who read a statement from her son about the incident at Tuesday's rally, said he has rejected an apology from Brumett and that the alderman should also apologize to voters and the City Council.

"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."

Dale Charles, president of the state chapter of the NAACP, said at Tuesday's event that he stands behind Neal and the Pine Bluff's chapter's decision to call for Brumett's resignation.

"We will no longer be denigrated by white superiority," Charles said. "We must, as a community, stand up and say enough is enough. This is 2015, and we will not tolerate this."

Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth, who is white, issued a written statement Monday, saying, in part: "Both parties have been in touch with each other on multiple occasions and an apology has been offered for the inappropriate actions by Alderman Brumett. It is my hope for our City that this exchange will be deemed as adequate, we can learn from these mistakes, and we can move past this incident to continue the positive momentum that we currently enjoy."

State Desk on 04/01/2015

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