Candidate needs to clear the air
Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 6:19 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 6:19 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 6:19 a.m.
The past matters.
This is especially true when someone is seeking a leadership position, be it the president of the United States or the mayor of a city, such as Lake Wales.
In this case, it is the past of City Commissioner John Paul Rogers.
He is seeking a one-year term as mayor in the April 5 election. Under Lake Wales' charter, the mayor is elected from among the sitting commissioners who are not up for re-election.
Rogers' past that matters is he past membership in the United Klans of America.
It matters because, while as mayor he would not have any more voting power than the other four city commissioners, he would be the titular head of the city, its face to the world.
It matters because he has never explicitly renounced the racist views of the organization he left nearly 25 years ago.
When asked about his Klan affiliation and his beliefs today, he brushes the question aside with a comment about how that was in the past.
When pushed about it, he responds as he did recently at a candidates' forum when he said that if being against communism, against drugs and in favor of states rights was wrong, then he was wrong.
That is evading the question: Will he explicitly renounce the racist beliefs of that now-defunct organization?
It is a simple question that deservers a simple yes or no answer from someone who wants to represent all the citizens of Lake Wales, black as well as white.
The only assumption that is reasonable to make from Rogers' answers is that he still holds racist views.
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