Free Republic

If blacks can criticize whites, then whites should be able to say the inner city “needs to get its act together.” That was the bottom line of “Being White in Philly,” a controversial article written by Robert Huber and published in Philadelphia Magazine. (Mayor Nutter) What followed was predictable. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said the article was a “sin” and an “incitement to extreme reaction.” The mayor called upon the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission to “rebuke” the magazine and Huber. But not long ago, Nutter was calling for a “national conversation” about racial issues: “Black on black crime is not...

WASHINGTON - Could Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey be a Republican bridge who helps secure a deal on background checks on guns? His office confirmed Friday that Toomey, a strong Second Amendment advocate, was in discussions on pending gun bills that have struggled to gain traction with Republicans and many pro-gun Democrats in the Senate. "Sen. Toomey and his staff are talking to a lot of folks - both in Pennsylvania and in the Capitol - on the issue of guns in the hopes that we get to an approach that works," his spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail. There was no...

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."...

Hundreds of chanting, jeering municipal union members, armed with piercing black whistles, drowned out Mayor Nutter Thursday as he attempted to give his annual budget address on the floor of City Council. Rather than forcibly evict the protesters—who are upset over a four-year stalemate in their contract negotiations with the city—Council President Darrell L. Clarke recessed the meeting as Nutter read his speech. Nutter later delivered his speech downstairs to a more friendly audience—about 30 applauding members of his own staff and 20 reporters. It was the most chaotic Council meeting in more than 30 years, comparable only to the...

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...

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...

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...