Free Republic

Philadelphia Magazine editor Tom McGrath and Robert Huber, author of the controversial "Being White in Philly" cover story, faced their critics at a forum Monday night at the National Constitution Center. McGrath opened by saying he was sorry to anybody who was hurt by the article, because that was not his intent, but adding that he did not regret publishing the story in the March issue. Huber told the packed auditorium of about 200 people that the purpose of the article was to explore "how white people relate to black people in the inner city, or don't relate to them."...

Mayor Michael Nutter took a hard line against youth mob violence yesterday — chastising the black community in particular— from the pulpit of his West Philadelphia church. “This nonsense must stop,” he thundered at Mount Carmel Baptist Church. “If you wanna act like a butthead, your butt’s gonna get locked up. If you wanna act like an idiot, move; we don’t want you here anymore.” Nutter’s remarks were met with riotous applause as he addressed absentee parenting, peer pressure, and a sense of entitlement and disregard for consequences that seems to permeate teens who participate in violent swarms. The remarks...

Subtitle: Whites, race, class, and the things that never get said. My younger son goes to Temple, where he’s a sophomore. This year he’s living in an apartment with two friends at 19th and Diamond, just a few blocks from campus. It’s a dangerous neighborhood. Whenever I go see Nick, I get antsy and wonder what I was thinking, allowing him to rent there. One day, before I pick him up for lunch, I stop to talk to a cop who’s parked a block away from Nick’s apartment. “Is he already enrolled for classes?” the cop says when I point...

A controversial article published in Philadelphia Magazine this month has the attention of the Nutter Administration. The article, titled “Being White in Philly,” features a series of interviews with anonymous white residents from different areas of the city who share stories about their interaction with black residents. Mayor Nutter calls the article’s tone “disgusting,” and he’s asked the Human Relations Commission to investigate some of the sensitive racial issues explored in the piece. Nutter spokesman Mark McDonald says this is all about fact finding. “I think he feels that there are enough problems in this article that it warrants a...