CLOSE TO HOME: Cotati councilman must go

<p><i>EDITOR'S NOTE: Ben Terry, president of the Sonoma County chapter of the NAACP, submitted this statement on Friday regarding Cotati City Councilman George Barich, who posted on his personal blog a photo of himself in black-face. The photo has since been removed.</i></p><p>On Feb. 12, the NAACP celebrated 100 years of fighting and defending civil rights. In our 100 years of standing against bigotry, racism, discrimination of all kinds, intolerance, prejudice and hostility to people of color, we are still fighting these same types of issues.</p><p>The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the oldest civil rights organization in the world. In fact, the Sonoma County NAACP is now 56 years old. One of the reasons for the need of a NAACP Chapter was because people with a black face could not eat in restaurants in this county. At that time, these were the policies sanctioned by the city and county government – our great leaders. </p><p>In appears that in 2009, people of color are still looked upon in the city of Cotati as a race of people who have not advanced and still are a joke to city government as evidenced by the actions of a Cotati City Councilman. </p><p>We have received many calls from all races of people that expressed sadness, anger and outrage about the actions of the councilman.</p><p>The Sonoma County NAACP is very concerned about the actions of this councilman. He is a member of this community, this county and a “so-called leader,” charged with voting on issues and policies that shape the future of Cotati. This councilman shows why there is still a need for the NAACP and other similar organizations in this county.</p><p>The NAACP is not only concerned with the actions of this city councilman but also the other City Council and political representatives that are shaping this city’s government. We have not heard any expressions of sorrow and outrage from any of Cotati’s city officials which leads us to believe that these are the views of all of the city government of Cotati.</p><p>Even though this has been removed from his blog, does he believe it’s out of sight out of mind”? We do not believe that his actions of removing the piece from the blog erased anything from his heart. And for him to continue to be a city councilman is only bad for the city of Cotati. The NAACP is requesting that the Cotati’s city government publicly speak out against his actions and take steps to remove him from the City Council immediately. And we are encouraging the citizens of Cotati to start a recall for the removal of this city councilman.</p><p>In 2009, with the people having voted for the first black president of the United States, how could this happen within a city government in California and not be addressed by the city officials immediately? </p><p>Ben Terry of Santa Rosa is president of the Sonoma County chapter of the NAACP</p>