James Baldwin vs. New Hampshire Police Chief Who Called Obama the N-Word

So, did you hear about 82-year old Robert Copeland, the New Hampshire police commissioner who called President Obama the 'N-word' while dining in a public restaurant? It turns out that a citizen heard him and wrote a complain to City Hall complaining about his blatant racism.

Do you think that the old codger apologized? Not even a little bit.

In an email response to O’Toole’s complaint to town officials, Copeland, admitted to having made the comment, writing,

“I believe I did use the ‘N’ word in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse. For this, I do not apologize — he meets and exceeds my criteria for such.”

Copeland is one of three elected police commissioners in Wolfeboro, an overwhelmingly white town with 6,300 residents, about 20 of whom are Black. His boss, Joseph Balboni Jr. says that he doesn’t plan to ask Copeland to resign.

“He’s (Copeland) worked with a lot of Blacks in his life,” Balboni said.

Being white in America often means you can be elected to a public office without ever having to apologize for your racist remarks or behavior. Racism still runs rampant in America. Sometimes there are consequences.  Other times there are not.   The Wolfeboro ctizens hope to use 'shame' to get Copeland to resign.

Author and activist James Baldwin spoke on this matter over 50 years ago:



Copeland is a old and foolish. The fact that he is responsible for law enforcement policy in his town makes him dangerous. But, maybe it's our fault...

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