Everyday Ethics

A reporter called today from New Jersey to ask what I thought about the comments of a Freehold, N.J., councilman who said, in essence, that Dominicans and Mexicans are more promiscuous than other groups.

The reporter wanted an outside opinion on whether Latinos in the community had a point when they called the council member a racist. In his remarks, councilman Marc LeVine leaps from work-related contacts with Dominicans to make sweeping statements about Dominican values and morals. Racist thoughts? Read his remarks and judge for yourself. 

What I know for sure, though, is the people of Freehold have reason to believe that personal opinions like LeVine’s can easily become public policy. I only have to travel a few miles north and west of my office for evidence. In Largo, Fl., city council members this week voted to fire a highly successful and effective city manager because they didn’t like the fact that he was a transsexual intent on a sex change.

The question for the council member in Freehold, then, isn’t: "Are you a bigot?"

How can you ever really know that someone isn’t racist? Journalists, on behalf of the people, need to ask what he meant, exactly, when he said "much more (promiscuous behavior) is found among Dominicans..."

The public needs to know how the councilman responds to the concerns of people who think his personal prejudices will become public policy. They need to know if he truly believes he’s informed enough about an entire ethnic group to generalize that they’re promiscuous and partial to the public dole.

Those questions – not the "is not, is too" debate about the racist label – will help people figure out how they should respond. That’s journalism as public service.