Race, Ignorance, and the PTA
The Pasadena Weekly interview series continued last week, as Kevin Uhrich and André Coleman profiled Mark Mastromatteo and Renatta Cooper, the candidates for the Pasadena Board of Eduation. The candidates certainly didn't mince their words.
Cooper, who hasn't been arrested three times and can't make a mean BBQ sandwich, derides her opponent's inexperience in education and, *gasp*, says he "can never be" African-American. So, I guess the old race canard's out of the bag, if it wasn't already.
Mastromatteo, on the other hand, refused to even name a negative thing about Cooper when asked, saying "I want to run a positive campaign. I think there is too much to do, and I have too many ideas, and I don't want to spend time talking about what's wrong with the other person."
Mark wins the "nice-guy-in-the-interview" award, but that doesn't mean Cooper's criticisms are irrelevant. With the election drawing nigh, we can only hope that the muslingi-er, elevated debate about the issues increases.
and labeled:
Pasadena
2 comments:
You should have seen the episode of NewsRap about 2 or 3 weeks ago on cable access where Mark was a guest and a caller tore into him. He handled himself pretty well, all things considered. I'm a bit more on the side of Ms. Cooper, though, in terms of who I'd vote for.
Ah, if only we could be everywhere at all times. That's why rely on the network of smart, involved characters like yourself to keep up to date. Thanks for the tips. Keep 'em coming.
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