The War that Lou Barletta Started in Hazleton
Recently, on his Facebook page, Lou Barletta released a statement blasting Temple University. Apparently, the school is offering a class that is titled The War in Hazleton. The class examines the negative impact on race and community relations that Lou Barletta has had on the city of Hazleton while serving as its mayor. Naturally, Mayor Barletta flew of the handle upon hearing that anyone would dare criticize him and his perfect little kingdom of Hazleton. HOW DARE A UNIVERSITY QUESTION THE POLCIES AND DECISIONS OF A POLITICIAN!?!?
Barletta quotes part of the War in Hazleton syllabus in his statement, which reads…
“In the view of Mayor Barletta and his supporters, this leaves the town of Hazleton, not one community but two, speaking different languages, with different customs and with a fierce mutual distrust. Many observers believe that this state of Balkanization will be the national destiny of the US in the next generation.”
Barletta’s response to this is as follows…
“Two of my daughters attended Temple University. My wife, MaryGrace and I are proud to say our children attended Temple. I am deeply disappointed that they would allow such a biased and untrue characterization of myself and the City of Hazleton. Hazleton is great a city with good people and wonderful neighborhoods. Like any city we have faced our share of challenges and we have dealt with them accordingly. We don’t profess that we live in a utopia, but the idea that we have been Balkanized or live as if we are two communities is just not true.”
So the issue appears to be this: Is Mayor Barletta inspiring an environment of fear, mistrust, or even hate? Many of Lou Barletta’s actions, most notably his “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” have led some people to label the mayor as being a racist and a bigot. Barletta, not surprisingly, has rejected these claims. It doesn’t help Barletta that he has been endorsed for Congress by David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan and author of several racist books. It also doesn’t help that some of Barletta’s most vocal supporters are hate-spewing, redneck racists. Take this recent comment, posted on this website over the weekend by Bill Coogan (billplanet9@hotmail.com) who is a self-professed Lou Barletta supporter (what makes the following comment even creepier is that is was left in response to my Happy New Year post)…
“All these ’stop Lou Barletta’ communists, who don’t live in Hazelton and themselves no nothing about ‘fiscal responsibility” advocate open borders along our southern region….just let them all come in…..we’ll just print more money for them, put them on welfare, let their kids wind up in jail for drugs, killing, rapes, etc…our prisons are already bursting with illegal immigrant criminals.. further bankrupt the country and ferment revolution and killing in the street. You’re a great bunch of commies. You and the ‘big money’ behind you (you know who they are) want nothing more than the ruin of our Christian European heritage and culture, so that the rich commies at the top (all Jews) can control you idiots and make slaves of you. Thank God for people like Lou Barletta and 75% of the American public who support him. We are ‘on’ to you!”
Now, Barletta has already announced plans to travel to Temple University to debate with the professor who is teaching this War in Hazleton class. His goal, I assume, is to convince people that his policies really aren’t inspiring hate and mistrust. Based on the above comment, posted by someone who obviously supports Mayor Barletta and his policies, I can only wonder what kind of argument that Barletta will make. “I’m not a racist, I’m just really, really popular with people who are.” Or maybe, “Yes, David Duke, one of the nation’s leading voices of hate and racism, has supported me for Congress, but really, I have no idea why.”
I understand that most of Lou Barletta’s supporters are probably not racists. I also understand that the above comment, left by Mr. Coogan, can not in any way be associated with Mayor Barletta. I get that. However, my point is this: If your policies are popular with David Duke and people like Bill Coogan, maybe it’s time to take a hard look at your policies and see what they’re really accomplishing. Because when major universities begin offering classes discussing how much harm you’re doing to race relations in America, maybe there’s something to it. Mayor Barletta has spent an awful lot of time arguing with people who are opposed to him. Maybe it’s time he spends some time taking issue with some of the people who agree with him.
As far as I can see, it’s impossible to say that Mayor Barletta’s polices have, in no way, contributed to a sense of hate and/or mistrust in Hazleton. Simply put, just look at who’s on Barletta’s side in this debate: A former member of the KKK leadership and hate mongers like Bill Coogan. Barletta might not be a racist, but he can not deny that his polices go over very well with those that are. That alone, in my opinion, is reason enough to question the type of message that electing Mayor Barletta to Congress would send to the rest of the country. Clearly, Lou Barletta should not be elected to the United States Congress.
-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com
April 1st, 2010 at 10:04 am
[...] mentioned in an earlier post, Temple University is teaching a course titled, The War in Hazleton. The course discusses the [...]
August 2nd, 2010 at 8:54 am
[...] immigration have been so divisive that Temple University introduced a college course, titled “The War in Hazleton“, which studied the negative impact that Barletta has had on community and race relations in [...]