Maryland Democrat's Seek to Impose Linguistical Purity Test

from the Baltimore Sun

The chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party on Wednesday called on Harford County Del. Mary Ann Lisanti to resign after her use of a racial slur at an Annapolis bar last month.

Party chairwoman Maya Rockeymoore Cummings added her influential voice to the growing calls for Lisanti’s resignation. House Speaker Michael Busch, an Anne Arundel Democrat, has already stripped Lisanti, a Havre de Grace Democrat, of two leadership assignments.

"While Harford County Delegate Mary Ann Lisanti has apologized for referring to Prince George’s County as a “n---- district,” further insight provided by some of her African American constituents about the kind of political positions and actions that she has taken that are consistent with the sentiment reflected in her poor choice of words underscores that an apology and promise to undergo diversity training are not enough,” Rockeymoore Cummings said in a statement.

The African American Democratic Clubs of Maryland, including the Harford County chapter, called for Lisanti’s resignation on Tuesday and on Wednesday the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also called on the delegate to resign.

"It is unacceptable for any elected representative to use this kind of deeply offensive racial slur,” said CAIR Director of Maryland Outreach Zainab Chaudry. “Lawmakers are public servants who must be held to a higher moral standard. This insult is particularly disturbing considering that Delegate Lisanti is a Democrat who was voted into office in a Republican county partly through support from her African-American constituents. She has lost public trust, along with the ability to demonstrate that she can represent all of her district in a fair manner.”

Lisanti apologized Tuesday morning to the House Democratic Caucus for using the slur and released a statement asking for forgiveness. She declined to comment to The Baltimore Sun.

“I deeply apologize to the citizens of my district, people of Maryland, all of my colleagues in the Maryland General Assembly and everyone reading this for my word choice several weeks ago,” Lisanti’s statement said. “I am sickened that a word that is not in my vocabulary came out of my mouth. It does not represent my belief system, my life’s work or what is in my heart.”

Lisanti reportedly told a white colleague in late January at Annapolis Cigar that when he campaigned last fall in House District 26 in Prince George’s County on behalf of a candidate, he was knocking on doors in a “n----- district,” according to The Washington Post.

As a result, Busch stripped Lisanti of her posts as chairwoman of a House subcommittee on unemployment insurance and as House chairwoman of a joint committee on unemployment insurance.

But Rockeymoore Cummings said resignation is the appropriate punishment.

“African Americans comprise approximately a third of the voters in Lisanti’s district and they deserve to be represented by a person who is considerate of their views, a champion for their issues, respectful and appreciative of diverse people, and dedicated to cultivating an inclusive economy and democracy,” Cummings said. “For this reason, I support calls for Lisanti to resign her position.”

I wonder if the same standard would apply to an African-American Democrat using racially insensitive language... NAH! This is Maryland. Double Standards are the rule, not the exception.
Mary Ann Lisanti is the Delegate from Harford County District 34A