Lisanti must resign to draw a line on racism

I just read the letters to the editor reacting to Del. Mary Ann Lisanti’s disrespectful description of Prince George’s County using the n-word (“Delegate Lisanti should resign over the use of racial slur,”Feb. 27). We are questioning whether our leaders — whether they are clergy, politicians or business owners — should be held to a higher standard. It has become too normal for disrespectful rhetoric to be accepted. It’s as if you don’t even bat an eye at the mention of certain words being used or the tone and topic of conversations as they relate to race, sexuality, or geographic locations where people come from.

As an African American man, when I hear President Donald Trump speak like he does with the childish name-calling and fear-theworld conversation, maybe it makes it easier for racists to openly be racists. Delegate Lasanti needs to resign. She was obviously around other white people where she felt comfortable enough to use that word. She probably felt like it would be received with no backlash in the company of folks who looked like her. I take my hat off to whoever spoke up.

We need more people who are not aggrieved coming to the defense of those who are! No elected official should ever utter words like this. As a black man, I hate to hear blacks use that word, too. When we use that word, it makes it easier for others to use it. There is nothing honorable about any person, regardless of political affiliation, using racially insensitive words of any kind. I wonder if she was black and had used racist words to describe Jews, gays or white people, would there be people calling on her not to resign?

Darren Sanders, Owings Mills