City Councilman Jim Kenney thinks even the biggest backers of Mayor John Street will have a hard time explaining his recent comments to an NAACP convention.
For the past week, Street has been trying to dodge controversy since comments in a Philadelphia Inquirer article on the convention led critics to accuse the mayor of making racially divisive remarks.
“Let me tell you,” Street was quoted as saying, “the brothers and sisters are running the city. Oh, yes. The brothers and sisters are running this city. Running it! Don’t you let nobody fool you, we are in charge of the City of Brotherly Love. We are in charge! We are in charge!”
Kenney (D-at large) thinks those comments are no mere slip of the tongue.
“I believe those are his true feelings. I think this is the real John Street,” said Kenney, recalling that Street in 1993 told rowing clubs to “get off the (Schuylkill) river” if they didn’t find more black scullers.
Street, who spoke to the NAACP on April 13, has apologized to anyone he might have offended. His spokesman, Frank Keel, said it’s time to move on to other issues.
Keel, who is white, noted that Street is a longtime member of the NAACP and proud to be the city’s second black mayor. Keel believes that the mayor was in a comfort zone while addressing 700 people at the convention and simply began speaking in an evangelical tone.
Keel, in response to detractors who believe the comments had racial overtones, mentioned Street’s recent track record, particularly the mayor’s anti-blight initiative that will benefit all neighborhoods, including the largely white Northeast, the spokesman said. The mayor, Keel said, has visited all neighborhoods, not just his political base in North and West Philadelphia.
“I know there’s not a racist bone in his body,” Keel said.
Councilman Darrell Clarke (D-5th dist.) agrees. He worked for Street for 18 years, then succeeded him in Council when Street resigned to run for mayor.
Clarke noted that Street represented a diverse district and always had a diverse staff.
“I never got the sense that there were any problems relating to race,” he said.
Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.), a Street ally, said he wasn’t offended by the mayor’s comments.
Still, he’d like to see Street make a full apology or, at least, clarify his remarks. If the mayor would make a full apology, O’Neill thinks he’d be forgiven by white Philadelphians.
O’Neill and Street were elected to City Council in 1979, and the Far Northeast councilman thinks the mayor’s comments were an aberration.
“I’ve known him a long time. He’s not a racist,” O’Neill said.
No matter how one gauges Street’s comments, the remarks are largely true. Blacks dominate many of the top jobs in city government.
The city’s managing director (Estelle Richman), police commissioner (Sylvester Johnson), fire commissioner (Harold Hairston), finance director (Janice Davis), recreation commissioner (Victor Richard), streets commissioner (Willie Johnson), parking authority chairman (the Rev. William B. Moore) and housing authority executive director (Carl Greene) are black.
So are Street’s chief of staff (Joyce Wilkerson), secretary for external affairs (George Burrell) and secretary of agencies, authorities, boards and commissions (Augusta Clark).
Kenney likes Richman, Davis, the Johnsons and others, but he thinks Street displayed an “in-your-face, so there” attitude in his speech.
Calling the speech “extremely divisive,” Kenney said Street showed a lack of maturity that a big-city mayor needs. He fears the comments will hurt the city as it tries to get money from Harrisburg for schools, tourism, hospitality and an expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Councilwoman Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.) said Street should explain to Philadelphians exactly what he meant by his comments. As for the political repercussions, she said it’s too soon to tell.
Krajewski believes that Street’s speech about who controls the city was unfortunate.
“I think it was a dumb, dumb statement,” she said.
Dr. Melissa Brown, a Republican candidate in the 13th Congressional District, released a statement calling Street’s remarks “divisive” and “hurtful.”
Brown said Street should step out from behind his “spokesman apologist” and speak directly to people in Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania.
As for the political reaction, Brown believes that failure to speak out against “hate speech” is dangerous because it can be interpreted as acquiescence at best and acceptance at worst.
Councilman Rick Mariano (D-7th dist.) and Councilwoman Marian Tasco (D-9th dist.), along with Councilman Frank DiCicco, a Democrat from South Philadelphia, did not return calls for comment.