Mailing from Rep. Lindner upsets black colleague Published April 2, 2003
Rep. Neva Walker, a black DFLer from Minneapolis, said she was taken aback when she received a letter recently from the lawyer of Rep. Arlon Lindner, R-Corcoran, that was addressed to her as Walker-Black. Lindner is the subject of an ethics complaint by House DFLers who found comments he made recently as offensive to gays and blacks. Walker said Tuesday night, "I do believe it was an accident and somebody forgot to erase it. . . . I am an elected official and I deserve respect, and that misprint is a lack of respect." James Anderson, Lindner's lawyer, said he apologized to Walker for getting her name wrong and said it was a "simple mistake." "I can tell you that the person typing the letter apparently looked at the file and put the words together wrong," he said. "Basically, it's a tempest in a teapot," he said, adding that "some people are just hypersensitive if from a simple mistake they can call someone a racist." Walker said, "It's easy to say that when you're not on the receiving of a racist comment, but racist attacks are emotionally and mentally draining. And I am far from sensitive. It takes a lot to offend me. . . . Folks who are so focused on this issue don't realize that there is a pattern with this particular representative." Lindner has questioned whether gays and lesbians were persecuted in the Nazi Holocaust and suggested that his bill to strip gays and lesbians of human rights protections would combat AIDS and keep the United States from becoming "another African continent." A hearing on the merits of the ethics complaint is scheduled for next week. Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhod -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
