Mar 21, 2008 | 10:14 AM
Category:
News
I was shocked and amazed when I first contacted Charles Laws Thursday morning. When I asked him if he thought the word "BLEEP" was derogatory, he replied "Lady, I'm 74 years old and that's what we called them when I was growing up. I don't care about political BLEEP." I then asked him, "Did anyone else in the public meeting take offense?" Mr. Laws responded "No, they laughed, they thought it was a joke."
But city officials in Austin aren't laughing. They want Laws to resign
from the Creedmoor Maha Water Supply Corporation and as Mayor Pro Tem
of the Mustang Ridge City Council.
Mr. Laws published this slur "holding pen for BLEEP" in a public meeting agenda, he was referring to a proposed Immigrant Detention Facilty near Mustang Ridge.
It wasn't just shocking hateful language would be printed in a public meeting agenda, it was equally disturbing that Mr. Laws at first saw absolutely nothing wrong with using the slur. He later acted apologetic after getting several calls from media and city officials asking him to resign.
Living and working in Austin for the last eight years, I'm not used to hearing such language, even if people privately think and say these words, it's so rare to hear them actually spoken in public and to a reporter nonetheless. A friend of mine put it like this, "We live in a bubble in this town." There's a lot of truth to that.