Michigan Democrat ‘N-Word’: A local Michigan official reportedly called her colleague a racial slur earlier this week but apologized a few days later.
Buena Vista Township Clerk Gloria Platko said that she was sorry for a “slip of the tongue,” reported KSDK television.
“I’m sorry to my five other board members and I’m entirely sorry to this entire community,” Platko said.
Platko was recorded calling her Township Supervisor Dwayne Parker, who is African-American, a racial slur in a heated exchange.
“He is just doing whatever he can. You know what I think of Mr. Parker right now, and I know you’re not even going to like this,” Platko said a recording, according to MLive.com. “But he’s just an arrogant (racial slur). And I’m sorry to say it that way, but that’s the way I feel.”
She made the comments at a Board of Trustees meeting on Monday
Trustee Cheryl Merrill told MLive that the two dozen people at the meeting were stunned.
“I was shocked, and the crowd reacted,” Merrill said. “Gloria (Platko) and a community person had words, and that person was not happy with her at all.”
Platko stressed that she is not racist.
“I’ve eaten Thanksgiving dinner with black friends at their house. So I’m far from prejudiced. You need to go interview some of the black people who have supported me for the last four or five years,” she said.
Pam Henley, a Buena Vista Township resident, told a local NBC station that Platko is “lucky.”
“She’s real lucky she’s still over there because people don’t play with the n-word anymore,” Henley said.
