An open letter to the citizens of Baton Rouge by Mayor Sharon Weston Broome calling for greater unity in the community and criticizing individuals and media outlets that use their right of free to speech to spew hatred and divisive rhetoric has many around downtown buzzing today.
What, exactly, was the impetus behind the letter?
Broome’s missive doesn’t say, though it suggests any number of hateful comments on social media and websites factored into her decision to send the letter.
“While freedom of speech is one of the pillars that makes this country so beautiful, irresponsibility of such can be used as a tool to separate us as community. As your mayor-president, I stand against hatred, division, and words and actions that only further divide our community,” the letter says. “I do not endorse or support the opinions of any individual or media outlet that would attempt to take us down a path of strife and contentiousness. I write to you today to say that this division cannot and will not be the demise of Baton Rouge.”
The letter goes on to detail the priorities Broome’s administration has tried to address, including education, police reform, natural disaster preparedness, and community and economic development.
“We can accomplish these goals and more if we work together,” the letter says, adding, “I want to be very clear: I reject any efforts intended to create division and strife in our community.”
The letter comes two weeks after the U.S. Justice Department announced it will not bring civil rights charges against the police officers involved in the 2016 shooting death of Alton Sterling, which immediately led to protests and highlighted racial tensions in the city.
Though the community weathered the announcement without a repeat of last year’s demonstrations, Broome has been criticized by some for taking what is perceived to be an antagonistic position against the police union and Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr., whom she said during her campaign she intended to replace.
She has also taken hits for the mishandling of hiring a chief administrative officer and for comments she has made about her opposition to the St. George incorporation effort, which is expected to get under way again later this year.
Recent Metro Council meetings have also been exceptionally divisive—mainly along racial lines—and some have questioned why Broome has not taken a stronger stand on issues that have polarized the council and the larger community.
A spokesman for the St. George effort, Lionel Rainey II, declined to comment on the mayor’s letter, except to say, “It is interesting.”
But sources familiar with the incorporation movement say they believe the first five months of the new administration have only served to build support for the effort, which was narrowly defeated two years ago.
A spokeswoman for the mayor says there is no mystery to the letter. It was simply something the mayor felt needed to be said.
“We see a lot of inflammatory comments in the comment sections of news site and other social media,” says Janene Tate. “It’s very apparent there is division … so this was just a reiteration of a platform she ran on, which is unity, and she strives for and calls for here in Baton Rouge.”
—Stephanie Riegel
