Columbus NAACP President writes an op-ed about comments by Democratic candidates at forum she found appalling
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Columbus NAACP President writes an op-ed about comments by Democratic candidates at forum she found appalling
State Representative apologies for her remarks
It's nine days before the 2022 Midterm General election day and early this morning before sunrise minutes after 6AM on the Dispatch website they published an opinion piece written by Nana Watson, president of the Columbus NAACP branch.
It’s unclear or not, if this is an attempt at an October political suprise being days away from the election or if it was an attempt to inform the public about what was said at a public forum where there was no video or audio recorded.
R&B and Soul group “The Undisputed Truth” reminds us in their hit song, “Smiling Faces'' about how they don’t always tell the truth.
Notably 11-days ago, the evening was Thursday, October 20th on the city’s near east side at Trinity Baptist Church the NAACP Columbus branch upheld part of its mission, “remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes.”
They held a forum for all candidates who are on the ballot this coming Tuesday, November 8th. According to the op-ed written by President Watson “roughly 20 candidates attend” to take questions from members of the NAACP and Black Columbus as well as to inform everyone of where they stand on the issues that matter to the community.
The Allegation
**Editorial Note: The UnBossed! Columbus Editorial staff is going to refer to everything within the op-ed as “alleged” because we haven’t been able to independently verify with video or audio that anything was actually said.**
In the op-ed it is alleged that two incumbent Democrats State Representative Mary Lightbody and Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie Lynch used “racially disparaging remarks that lacked sensitivity.”
State Representative Mary Ligthbody has served Ohio House District-19, since her election in November 2018 and is now because of redistricting running for re-election for District 4.
Watson writes, that alledlegy Lightbody ““used the term, “those Blacks.”.”
President Watson doesn’t give any context around how the comment was made or state anything other than the comment the State Representative remarked.
After referencing Lightbody’s comments, Watson then moves on to alledge,
Judge Julie Lynch is one of eight candidates seeking election to the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, General Division, which handles adult felony cases and bigger civil cases. She is also an incumbent judge who has had her brush ups with the Franklin Democratic party not being an endorsed candidate.
It’s worth noting that Common Pleas Court races are considered nonpartisan in Ohio and party affiliations do not appear on the general ballot, but candidates run in partisan primaries.
Lynch first began her time on the Common Pleas Court as a Republican in 2004. She was reelected to six-year terms in 2010 and 2016 but she switched her party affiliation in 2019, to become a Democrat. Some people have gone back-and-forth with the theory that move was a purely political to help her win reelection in an increasingly blue county.
The Apology
UnBossed! Columbus reached out directly to Represenative Lightbody and did recieve a statement from the campaign this evening.
"I attended a candidate forum last week with the NAACP. During my remarks, I said an offensive phrase. Impact matters most in this moment, not my intent. I know how powerful words are, so I am saying how sincerely sorry I am.
I am grateful for those that called me out and those that called me in. I am not perfect, by no means. I am a white woman who holds much power. I am continually learning how to be aware of and disrupt my own implicit biases. I view this as an opportunity to evolve. I plan to continue to invest in my learning and development to become a more inclusive, aware, and active public servant."
No Comment
We have reached out to multiple members on the executive committee of the Columbus NAACP branch and they have refused to comment. During our attempts, we were trying to obtain contact information for President Watson, to understand her reasoning for waiting to publish the op-ed until now.
Also, we’ve tried numerous of times to reach Judge Lynch personally and as well as her campaign team and have been unsuccessful.
What’s Next?
In the words of Marvin Gaye, “Everybody thinks we're wrong and who are they to judge us?”
Well, who are we? We are the American electorate and the members of the NAACP. As members of the NAACP that means if you serve on the executive committee, the general membership had to vote for you. This is a public notice not just to the NAACP executive committee but to everyone who is seeking an elected office. The community will be watching and won’t be afraid to call you out when it comes to your wrongdoings.
For the Columbus NAACP branch hopefully this will be an experience for the leadership to call out these things alot sooner when they happen and to have a recording of it, whether video or audio. If memory serves correctly, the NAACP is suppose to be unapologetically black. But issuing a statement through op-ed 11-days after it happened and 9-days before an election with no proof other than your word doesn’t make you unapologetic at all.
Hopefully, the Undistrupted Truth can get through to us with song.
Hey, they don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof
Hey, your enemy won't do you no harm
(Rap on) 'cause you'll know where he's comin' from
Don't let the handshake and the smile fool ya
Take my advice, I'm only tryin' to school ya
Smiling faces, smiling faces, sometimes
They don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof