Lady Will Be Sworn In After Accusing Metropolis Of Racism
Antoinette Hodge fought again towards Uniontown, Pennsylvania after she accused town of racism as a result of officers refused to swear her in because the Metropolis Treasurer, though she received the first and normal election. After a federal lawsuit was filed, which accused a Metropolis Council Member and a Metropolis Clerk of conspiring to maintain her from taking workplace, Hodge will formally be the Metropolis Treasurer on Monday.
In accordance with Pittsburgh’s Motion Information, Hodge claimed she was not sworn in as a result of she is Black and ” Metropolis Council member and town clerk conspired to maintain her from getting an insurance coverage bond that’s required for her to carry workplace.”
Joel Sansone, Hodge’s lawyer, stated that when the lawsuit went public, “this councilman informed the bonding folks ‘this coloured woman’ should not sit because the treasurer for town of Uniontown.” The remark was reportedly made by metropolis council member Martin Gatti, although the accusation has not been corroborated. Sansone added, “To have her stored out as a result of she is Black is a throwback to the times of slavery, which we’re simply not going to simply accept.”
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Hodge additionally stated, “It was like, you have to be kidding me, as a result of by now you’d determine individuals are over that. We have had a Black president.”
Pennsylvania NAACP President Kenneth Houston slammed the incident, “That is probably the most blatant type of ignorance that I’ve ever seen or heard of in my 50-plus years of dwelling.”
Gatti is denying all of the accusations, and provides that Hodge was denied her seat as a result of her bond didn’t undergo. He stated in a press release, “I didn’t nor have I ever made a political or skilled resolution primarily based on race. I had each proper to observe up on her bond standing and whether or not or not all of the information have been supplied when the (bond) firm came upon that info had been withheld.”
Gatti claimed she could possibly be denied attributable to spotty credit. Hodge did say she was a sufferer of id theft, which affected her credit score, however she received preliminary approval for the bond. “It was about race. It was not about my credit score as a result of if it was my credit score, the bond by no means would have been issued within the first place,” she stated.
Antoinette Hodge might be sworn in on Monday, however the lawsuit it nonetheless shifting ahead, in keeping with Motion Information.