Carl Paladino, a wealthy landlord, the 2010 Republican candidate for governor of N.Y., and currently a Buffalo School Board member, made a horrifying public attack on President and Mrs. Obama on Dec. 23, 2016, in a Buffalo newspaper that has more than 55,000 readers. Warning: Please be aware that Paladino's words are extremely vile and disturbing, and use the very worst forms of racist, sexist, homophobic hate speech.
The paper, Artvoice, asked well-known Buffalo area citizens what they hoped for in 2017. Paladino said that he hoped "Obama catches Mad Cow Disease after being caught having relations with a Herford [cow]. He dies before his trial." Of Mrs. Obama, Paladino said "I'd like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla."
Ku Klux Klan hate language like this, particularly when used by prominent individuals to slander whole groups of people, is not acceptable in a civilized, democratic society which is diverse and inclusive. The fact that this hate language has been used by a prominent politician who might have been elected as our governor, and who now influences the school board of a major city, can damage innumerable vulnerable children's lives throughout our state and society. Paladino's conduct is a moral outrage against all decent human beings. His horrifying statements have been condemned by the Buffalo school board and a large number of local, state, and national officials, including Governor Cuomo and the Chancellor of the N. Y. State Board of Regents, Betty Rosa. For more information, see boycottpaladino.com.
We demand that Congressman Thomas Reed do the morally right thing and publicly reject Carl Paladino's vicious, divisive, destructive statement of Dec. 23rd, 2016 IMMEDIATELY.
