An odd story on a few fronts...

[Ben E Lou]

Comments in the next post...

Calif. schools chief under fire over 'stupid, dirty girl' remark

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press
Published on: 07/09/04


LOS ANGELES — State Education Secretary Richard Riordan jokingly told a child her name, Isis, meant "stupid dirty girl," prompting widespread criticism and posing a quandary for the man who appointed him, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Riordan, the wealthy former Los Angeles mayor known for his support of public schools, startled even friends last week with the comments at a promotional event for summer reading at the Santa Barbara library.

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Schwarzenegger, his longtime friend, called Riordan's statement to the girl "unacceptable in any context" but gave no hint his job was in danger.

But Alice Huffman, president of the California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday that Riordan "is not suitable to lead education in our state" and should be removed.

The conversation, videotaped by KEYT-TV, took place July 1. The girl, 6-year-old Isis D'Luciano, asked Riordan if he knew her name meant "Egyptian goddess."

Riordan replied, "It means stupid dirty girl."

After nervous laughter in the room, the girl again told Riordan the meaning of her name.

"Hey, that's nifty," he said.

A day later, Riordan issued a statement that said he "teased" the girl. "I immediately apologized to her, and I want to do so again for the misunderstanding," Riordan said.

The governor's chief spokesman, Rob Stutzman, said Thursday Riordan had not been asked to resign and, "That's the end of the issue, as far as we are concerned."

The girl's mother, Trinity Lila of Goleta, said her daughter was fine, and she considered the issue over.

"Obviously it hurt her feelings, but she didn't take it personally. She knew he was wrong and she let it go," Lila said. "I'm not going to sue them for therapy bills."

"He's already apologized repeatedly," Lila added. Although Riordan's office has tried to contact her, "I don't see what else is to be done."

But the issue has persisted. In an editorial Thursday, The Sacramento Bee said California "shouldn't have an education secretary who makes offensive, damaging remarks to young children for no apparent reason."

"He's the governor's top person on education, which means we would expect him to have some love and respect for children," Huffman said. "I think he is the wrong man for the job. There is no way for him to explain this away."

Riordan, a venture capitalist who started a foundation supporting literacy, has a reputation for awkward — some might say insensitive — remarks and behavior.

As mayor, he once greeted hunger strikers outside his office eating a hamburger. In a speech to school administrators earlier this year, he told a story about a nun physically disciplining a student that startled some in the audience.

"There wasn't an uproar, but some people felt the comment was inappropriate," said Joseph Jones, assistant executive director of the Association of California School Administrators.

Democratic state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, who had scheduled a protest by civil rights organizations, canceled the demonstration after an apparent mix-up over the girl's racial background.

Dymally was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News Thursday saying the child was "a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?"

The girl is white, with blond hair.

Dymally did not return telephone calls. His office issued a statement Wednesday calling Riordan's remarks to the girl "outrageous and irresponsible," then issued another statement Thursday saying, "To err is human; to forgive is divine."

"Race is not a factor in this issue," Dymally said in Thursday's statement, adding that Riordan had apologized a second time. "It is time for us to move on."

[Ksyrup]

Looks like we read the online papers at the same time...

[Ksyrup]

FWIW, here are my comments from the thread I started on this same issue:


OK, let's see - to answer your question, Mr. Dymally, yes, I thinnk it's fair to say that he would make such a comment to a white girl. I'd like to know why, given the exact same circumstances, this type of comment to a black girl would be per se racist, instead of just "outrageous and irresponsible." And would you really be suggesting that it's "time to move on," or"time to fire him," if this happened to be a black girl?

Race isn't a factor, huh? Isn't it possible, just maybe, that even if this had been a black girl, that race wouldn't have been a factor, either? That doesn't enter the equation, though, does it? Black = racist; White = move on.

If this doesn't underscore the joke that claiming racism has become in this country, I don't know what does

[Ben E Lou]

Hmmmmm.....

1. What in the world was this guy thinking??? He's on camera. He knows he's on camera, and he's talking to a 6-year-old little girl!

2. Nervous laughter??? Who was laughing at this statement, nervously or not???

3. I'm impressed with the girl's mom. "I'm not going to sue them for therapy bills." Thank goodness for a little sanity in the situation.

4. The NAACP spokesperson seems to be hitting on the right issue here: attacking him for what would appear to be a lack of "love and respect for children." As opposed to...

5. This idiot assemblyman. "Would he have done that to a white girl?" Sheesh. Obviously, he got it wrong, but beyond that, THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE, NIMROD!!! The issue is that he did it to a child, period. All of a sudden, because it wasn't a black child, Dymally is ready to "move on."

6. Obviously he said something stupid, but I gotta respect a politician with the chutzpah to greet to greet a group of hunger strikers eating a hamburger.

[Ksyrup]

I thought the hamburger thing was hilarious as well. I'm not surprised that you and I agree on the racism issue. I know why he backed off so quickly, though - this just makes them look sooooo bad, that it will necessarily undercut the next legitimate racist issue they face.

[JonInMiddleGA]

This story is just so odd that all the obvious stuff just kinda jumps out at you.

And then there's me ... who can't help but wonder where in the world his choice of phrasing came from. I mean, "stupid dirty girl" isn't exactly a combination of words that just rolls trippingly off the tongue, and it isn't a phrase that I'm aware of from any pop culture reference or anything like that, so where did he suddenly come up with that combination from without some sort of prompting or visual trigger or something?

Has anybody seen the video from this? Was the kid unkempt or something? Had they brought her into the photo op straight from a football game on the playground?

(Note: I'm not justifying the comment even if the girl looked like PigPen from the old Peanuts comic strip, I'm just trying to figure out why he chose that particular odd phrase).

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I thought the hamburger thing was hilarious as well. I'm not surprised that you and I agree on the racism issue. I know why he backed off so quickly, though - this just makes them look sooooo bad, that it will necessarily undercut the next legitimate racist issue they face.

The racism thing is a joke. It really is. What a turd. What a complete opportunistic turd.

On the flipside, I agree about praising the mom. Given the current climate in the US this woman deserves a medal for her attitude and reaction to all of this. She's done well there.

[GrantDawg]

Anyone else worried by that "stupid, dirty girl" comment? I don't think it shows that he lacks love for children. In fact, I think it might show he loves them a little too much.

[Ben E Lou]

I agree with GrantDawg and Jon that it is a very strange phrase to use.

[sachmo71]

No response.

[Ben E Lou]

In the political arena, nothing gets on my nerves worse than demagoguery...

AD52 - Mervyn Dymally
State Capitol, Room 3132 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) 319-2052 Fax: (916) 319-2152
E-mail
Term limit:
Next election: 2004
Committees: Budget, Governmental Organization, Health, Public Safety
Democrats:	73.5% (82,385)
Republicans:	8.4% (9,414)
Decline to state:	11.8% (13,185)
Total voters:	112,137
Counties:	Los Angeles (112,137)
Cities:	Compton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Paramount
Source: California Secretary of State Data as of 01/02/04

[Ben E Lou]

More on Dymally....sounds like an old once-honorable Civil Rights warlord who hasn't had his name in the papers enough in recent years...

Assembly District 52

Mervyn M. Dymally, D-Compton

♦

Former Chair, Congressional Black Caucus

♦

Honorary Consul, Republic of Benin

♦

Faculty member, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and

Science.

Political Profile

♦

Term Limit: December 2008

♦

Former Congressman, United States House

of Representatives, 1981-1992

♦

Former Lieutenant Governor, State of

California, 1975-1979

♦

Former Senator, California State

Legislature, 1967-1974

♦

Former Assemblyman, California State

Legislature, 1963-1966

Legislative Committees*

Standing Committees:

♦

Budget

♦

Chair, Budget Subcommittee #1,

Health and Human Services

♦

Governmental Organization

♦

Health

♦

Public Safety

Select Committees:

♦

Chair, Community Colleges

♦

Chair, Closing of Health Facilities

♦

Chair, Science, Mathematics and

Technology

♦

Chair, Urban Youth

♦

California Indian Nations

♦

California’s Foreign Trade Offices

♦

Cancer Detection, Prevention and

Research

♦

Childhood Obesity and Related

Diabetes

♦

Children’s Physical and Mental Wellbeing

in Diverse California Communities

♦

Highway Patrol

♦

Language and Access to Government

♦

Water Management, Storage,

Conservation and Supply

Joint Committees:

♦

Legislative Audit

[*As of May, 2004]

UC in the District

UC Alumni in District: 864

UC Faculty and Staff in District: 377

Biography**

Assemblyman Mervyn M. Dymally originally

came to the United States from Trinidad, West

Indies as a journalism student and attended

Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Later he attended Chairman College in Los

Angeles and then transferred to Los Angeles

State College where he earned his BA in

Education. He earned his M.A. in Government

from California State University, Sacramento

and a Ph.D in Human Behavior from United

State International University, San Diego.

In 1960, Assemblyman Dymally worked as a

Field Coordinator for the John F. Kennedy

campaign before successfully running for State

Assembly in 1962. In 1966, he became the first

African American to serve in the State Senate.

In 1974, Assemblyman Dymally made history

when he was elected as Lieutenant Governor of

California. In 1980 he was successfully elected

to Congress becoming the first foreign born

African American to serve in the U.S. Congress.

Since his retirement from Congress in 1992, he

has traveled extensively to Africa, Asia and the

Caribbean. Assemblyman Dymally is a

distinguished professor at Central State

University, Ohio and a member of the Faculty at

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and

Science.

He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and the

National Honor Scholastic Society. Additionally,

Assemblyman Dymally serves as Honorary

Consul, for the Republic of Benin, West Africa, is

Vice President of Pacific Century Institute and

President of the Surplus Book Foundation, Inc.

He is married to the former Alice Gueno of New

Orleans now a retired teacher. He has two

children, Mark and Lynn, and is the grandfather

of Miya Dymally, Christian Dymally and

Cameron Dymally. Assemblyman Dymally

makes his home in Compton.

[**Information obtained from Assemblyman Mervyn

Dymally's website: www.assembly.ca.gov]

Contact Information

Capitol Office:

State Capitol, Room 3132

P.O. Box 942849

Sacramento, CA 94249-0052

Phone: (916) 319-2052

Fax: (916) 319-2152

District Office:

322 W. Compton Boulevard, Suite 100

Compton, CA 90220

Phone: (310) 223-1201

Fax: (310) 223-1202

E-Mail:

[email protected]

[cthomer5000]

I agree with all of SkyDog's 6 points. Nice to see some common sense on the part of the mother, and I just like the image of the hamburger meet-n-greet.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

The girl's mother, Trinity Lila of Goleta, said her daughter was fine, and she considered the issue over.

"Obviously it hurt her feelings, but she didn't take it personally. She knew he was wrong and she let it go," Lila said. "I'm not going to sue them for therapy bills."

"He's already apologized repeatedly," Lila added. Although Riordan's office has tried to contact her, "I don't see what else is to be done."

(Stares in disbelief)

Who is this woman, and what is she doing in America?

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

(Stares in disbelief)

Who is this woman, and what is she doing in America?

Not suing is just... just..... UN-AMERICAN!

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

(Stares in disbelief)

Who is this woman, and what is she doing in America?

There is no doubt that lawyers everywhere are crying.

Which reminds me of a funny commercial. There is a lawyer commercial running here where a lawyer is talking about car accidents. It shows him in front of a scene from a car accident, and he puts his hands out and they stop the tape (ie. like he prevented the accident). At the end of the commercial he makes the comment, "I may not be there before the accident, but I'll be there right after..." Which is when my wife looked over at me with out missing a beat and said, "Chasing the ambulance."

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

There is no doubt that lawyers everywhere are crying.

Which reminds me of a funny commercial. There is a lawyer commercial running here where a lawyer is talking about car accidents. It shows him in front of a scene from a car accident, and he puts his hands out and they stop the tape (ie. like he prevented the accident). At the end of the commercial he makes the comment, "I may not be there before the accident, but I'll be there right after..." Which is when my wife looked over at me with out missing a beat and said, "Chasing the ambulance."

Which is why such advertising is strictly forbidden in Florida. Here, you are not permitted to show testimonials from clients, tout previous monetary awards (raising the expectation that the lawyer could win as much for you), depictions of accident/crime scenes and the like, only an attorney in the firm is permitted to speak on camera (no celebrity endorsements), one piece of instrumental music is permitted to be played in the background, various disclosures have to be given, etc.

I was absolutely flabbergasted when I visited New Jersey back in 1999 and saw a TV ad for a criminal defense firm featuring OJ Simpson...

[Fritz]

I don't there would be a story if the guy wasn't wearing tiger skin chaps and lip gloss when he said "stupid dirty girl."

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Which is why such advertising is strictly forbidden in Florida. Here, you are not permitted to show testimonials from clients, tout previous monetary awards (raising the expectation that the lawyer could win as much for you), depictions of accident/crime scenes and the like, only an attorney in the firm is permitted to speak on camera (no celebrity endorsements), one piece of instrumental music is permitted to be played in the background, various disclosures have to be given, etc.

I was absolutely flabbergasted when I visited New Jersey back in 1999 and saw a TV ad for a criminal defense firm featuring OJ Simpson...

So they don't have "Turn that wreck into a check!" ads in Florida, I take it?

[HornedFrog Purple]

You try being a representative of Compton and see how long you remain sane.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by HornedFrog Purple

You try being a representative of Compton and see how long you remain sane.

When I saw the towns in his district, my first though was, "Gimme da microphone first so I can bust like a bubble. Compton and Long Beach together. Now you know in trouble..."

[Ksyrup]

At the risk of taking this thread on a tangent (like that would stop me)...

My first reaction to seeing Compton listed was to remember a comedy show from Robin Harris, one of my favorite comedians of all time. On one of his CDs, Harris (who was black) was talking bad about Compton, and apparently a few members of NWA were in attendance and started taking issue with him dissing Compton. The exchange went something like this:

"Compton? How can a brotha be proud to be from Compton?"

*Crowd yelling/booing*

*Someone tells him that the NWA guys are there*

"So. F**k Compton!"

*More yelling*

Then Harris says, ""Look y'all, I'm from a town called Fresh Off a N****r's Ass, and y'all are makin' me homesick."

And then after some more yelling, he made this comment, which I happened to see in Noop's sig, attributed to someone who probably heard it from Harris (who, in turn, likely got it from someone himself):

"Can someone put something in his mouth, 'cause my zipper's stuck?"


I just loved that exchange. It was like all of the black people were taken aback that one of their own would diss Compton.

[John Galt]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

There is no doubt that lawyers everywhere are crying.

Which reminds me of a funny commercial. There is a lawyer commercial running here where a lawyer is talking about car accidents. It shows him in front of a scene from a car accident, and he puts his hands out and they stop the tape (ie. like he prevented the accident). At the end of the commercial he makes the comment, "I may not be there before the accident, but I'll be there right after..." Which is when my wife looked over at me with out missing a beat and said, "Chasing the ambulance."

Can you bump that vote-GrantDawg-off-of-FOFC thread - I forgot to vote last time.

[Franklinnoble]

I'm thinking Riordan was just a little worked up after having watched the Cameron Diaz S&M video.

[Glengoyne]

My understanding is that the tone of his voice, and the manner he made the statement is why there was "nervous laughter" in the audience, and why the parents aren't more upset. She said her name meant "Egyptian Goddess", and he very playfully responded with his "Stupid Dirty Girl" comment. When she stood her ground and repeated her interpretation, he agreed with her and apologized, telling her he was joking.

It was a bad joke, but I don't think it is really news worthy if looked at in the context in which it occurred. Now I haven't seen the video, I'm not even 100% sure there is video. This is word of mouth over the radio from someone who called a talk show, and claimed to have been there. For all I know, it was someone on Riordan's staff, but it certainly makes more sense than the story as it reads above.

[Karlifornia]

This wouldn't even be an understandable blooper if he had instinctively retorted. It wasn't like he said "Oh, I can think of some other things it means". Calling a child "stupid, dirty girl" demonstrates a lack of elementary common sense.

Oh...and I was at the DMV yesterday, and on the wall in a nice frame was a picture of AHHHNULD.

[rkmsuf]

The hamburger thing is the best part of the story.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

It was a bad joke, but I don't think it is really news worthy if looked at in the context in which it occurred. Now I haven't seen the video, I'm not even 100% sure there is video. This is word of mouth over the radio from someone who called a talk show, and claimed to have been there. For all I know, it was someone on Riordan's staff, but it certainly makes more sense than the story as it reads above.

There is, and I saw it on the news today. It was clear he weas joking with the girl, but he didn't choose the right words. Again, it was bad but not "FIRE HIM" bad.

[Desert Dweeb]

Smoking Gun has a video of the event. Doesn't look like anything was taken out of context, this guy is just clueless.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...1riordan1.html

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

The hamburger thing is the best part of the story.

I agree. I remember when that happened, and decided I would vote for him if he ever ran for statewide office.

[Ksyrup]

That's no way to treat a kid, kidding or not, but at least he's not this guy:

http://kidsock2004.homestead.com/files/pwn3d.gif

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That's no way to treat a kid, kidding or not, but at least he's not this guy:

http://kidsock2004.homestead.com/files/pwn3d.gif

Was is that? Some other countries spin off of Saved By The Bell?

[Ksyrup]

It's too bad he stopped after the first one, because he looked like he was on-target to go 2-for-2.

[Ksyrup]

Michael Flatley's illegitimate brother trying to hit it big time.

[Bonegavel]

I hold this in almost as bad a light as when, then vice president, Algore made a comment about the Republican's having extra chromosomes.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

When I saw the towns in his district, my first though was, "Gimme da microphone first so I can bust like a bubble. Compton and Long Beach together. Now you know in trouble..."

Hey, now . . . Long Beach isn't nearly as bad as people like to make it out to be.

Oh, to stay on topic, dude's a f'n schmuck.

[Yossarian]

I was a little late :-(

[Ben E Lou]

Yossarian:

You're a little late: http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/for...4&postcount=29