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A regular Buffalo Report reader sent this comment Joel Giambra's Mealy-Mouthed Hypocrisy (12 March 2003)
March 12, 2003
A couple of comments about the Giambra comment and the respective media coverage — a topic I know you have been writing about for some time.
First, entails the coverage of the Buffalo News. When Dennis Gorski's campaign ran an ad showing a "boy with bowl of spaghetti on his head" in 1999, the Buffalo News made it a front page, A-1 story, with the Giambra folks and Republicans slamming Dennis, saying it was an ethnic slur. The News slammed the ad. However, Giambra's far more inflammatory statement, reflecting the significant latent racism in this community, gets relegated by the Buffalo News to the City and Region section.
Second, is the obvious and unsurprising bias of WBEN and its right-wing on-air "personalities" Tom Bauerle and Sandy Beach. Two days ago, both devoted their shows to this issue and both did everything they could to keep those who disagreed with them off the air and unable to comment. Also, when someone who thought Giambra's comments called for an apology or were of concern, was somehow able to get on the air, Beach and Bauerle belittled them and even cut those persons off in mid-sentence by terminating their phone connection. They say they care about the community, but their narrow-mindedness and petty biases show otherwise.
Just because Joel meets with African American ministers and has a semi-regular dialogue with them does not mean he actually listens or acts on their concerns. Anyone can meet with the ministers — it is ACTION that counts. Where are African-Americans in Joel's kitchen cabinet, or in commissioner or senior staff appointments?
Finally, Joel has said that the Christian school his children attend in Williamsville is an "integrated" school — a nebulous attempt on his part to say his kids are interacting with African-American children and teachers. (Joel's use of the word "integrated" seems curious also.)
But guess what? The Central Christian Academy claims only a 14% "ethnic diversity" — a category that includes everyone who isn't white and American. That's truly integration!
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