According to a video reported by CNN, a former city commissioner in Griffin County, GA, used the n-word a number of times during a city council meeting. He was there to make a plea for a Confederate history month.
Larry Johnson, the former city commissioner, was telling a story about his youth.
“There were white folks. There were black folks when I was growing up,” Johnson says in the video. “There was white trash — my family. There was n—–town. I lived next to n——town.”
The story was immediately interrupted by the current city commissioner, Rodney McCord, who is black.
“You lived next to what town?” asked McCord.
“N—–town, son!” Johnson shot back. “I’m telling you that I’ve changed. I’m no longer white trash. And they’re no longer called that.”
After there were a series of exchanges between members of the council, Johnson seems to have apologized for his comments.
“Now, if that’s offensive, I apologize for being offensive,” he said. “I don’t use that word anymore.”
“You just used it,” McCord responded.
The former city commissioner was contacted by CNN after the encounter at the council meeting. He said he was sorry about the outrage but also said he would not apologize to McCord unless the official apologized for interrupting him.
“In doing so, I used words familiar back then,” Johnson said. “But I was interrupted and did not get to say, ‘But we no longer use those words today and the world is a better place.’”
McCord, who was also contacted by CNN said he can’t understand why people still want to honor the Confederacy in 2018.
“I don’t understand why, in 2018, we’re still talking about the Confederates,” McCord said. “How should I, as a black person, celebrate that?”
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