The Fulton Republican Assembly chapter condemns the racist conduct of Fulton County Commissioners Khadijah Abdur-Rahman and Marvin Arrington, Jr., in their interaction with fellow commissioner Bridget Thorne. “I’m offended at your white privilege!” Khadijah shouted at Bridget in the meeting.
The comments were made at the March 15th Fulton County Commission meeting when discussing action item 23-0208. We also condemn the rest of the Board of Commissioners for not standing up for Commissioner Thorne when those racist sentiments were uttered, especially Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts, who failed to restore proper professional decorum to the meeting.
More importantly, we condemn the toxic ideology from which these racist sentiments spring forth: critical race theory. This utterly destructive ideology has infected the minds of far too many Americans and has led to a worsening of racial tensions, which hurts people of ALL races and social classes. It is a tragic shame that people like Commissioners Abdur-Rahman and Arrington are anywhere near the levers of power at any level of government since their concern is clearly not for the welfare of their constituents. They apparently prefer to grandstand with racially charged comments about a fellow commissioner rather than work towards finding common-ground solutions for the serious problems that their constituents face. Their constituents deserve better representation.
If a hospital is closing down somewhere in Fulton County, the Board of Commissioners has a duty to investigate why the fundamental economics of the venture made operating a hospital in that part of Fulton County financially infeasible. None of the other commissioners disputed any of the financial numbers that Commissioner Thorne provided in her statement. If the Board is legitimately concerned about the health care needs of its constituents, it needs to examine the heavy handed role that government taxes and regulations play in making hospital operations economically unsound in Fulton County – NOT to attack a fellow commissioner who is trying to solve the problem.
Commissioner Thorne is an equal voice on that Board and deserves to be treated with respect. In the face of the racist attacks against her, she continued to conduct herself in a professional manner and with the best interests of the residents of Fulton County in mind. Commissioner Thorne is a hero. The commissioners who attacked her based on the color of her skin are an utter disgrace to the seats of government they occupy. The other commissioners who piled on or otherwise stood by while that attack took place are cowards.
The Fulton Republican Assembly hereby calls for an immediate apology to be issued to Commissioner Thorne from the rest of the Board.
Comments: 2
Thank you for stating the obvious which seems to be not obvious to people anymore. It is amazing how people can’t see how racist their comments are when they claim they are against racism. These officials should be censured for their behavior and they should be made to apologize at a public meeting for their verbal attacks.
I am glad to see the Fulton County Assembly standing up against the treatment Commissioner Thorne received by Commissioner Abdul-Rahman and Arrington. Their unethical behavior was clearly racially motivated and very unprofessional which warrants a public apology to Commissioner Thorne. Further behavior of this sort should be grounds for removal from office.