This weekend, I mentioned that Bob Copeland, a member of the three-man police commission of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire; was under fire after a resident overheard him call President Obama the N-word in a local restaurant. Well, late last night, Copeland tendered his immediate resignation.
The 82-year-old retired lawyer told commission chairman Joseph Balboni on Sunday night that he would resign less than three months into his second five-year term. Shortly afterward, he sent a one-sentence resignation note via email. His resignation came a little more than 48 hours after a tense monthly commission meeting, the first time he’d faced his fellow residents since the slur made statewide and national headlines last weekend. Wolfeboro resident Jane O’Toole had overheard Copeland loudly call Obama “that f**ing n****r” in March, and had started a campaign to force him to resign. She was especially incensed to learn that Copeland had told his fellow commissioners that had no intention of apologizing for using the slur because he felt Obama “meets and exceeds my criteria for such.” Other residents shared her outrage and called for him to leave. Although several people threatened to have him recalled, town officials say that recall is not an option in New Hampshire, and resignation was the only way to get him to leave.
Copeland could not have been further from repentant on Friday night, saying he made “no bone about” his disgusting comments. That didn’t impress town manager David Owen or the board of selectmen who run the town between yearly town meetings. Hours after the meeting, they issued a joint statement demanding his resignation. Over the weekend, the police department was bombarded with angry calls, including several from people who threatened they would not come to the popular resort town roughly halfway between Boston and Portland, Maine unless Copeland resigned. Yesterday afternoon, no less a personality than Mitt Romney called for Copeland to resign; Romney owns a vacation home in the town.
O’Toole was visibly relieved when she learned that Copeland had thrown in the towel. “Hopefully,” she said, “we’ve taught our children a lesson that you can stand up and make a difference.”
Wolfeboro has a grand total of 20 blacks among its 6,300 residents. But regardless of how many blacks lived there, this kind of bigotry is wholly unacceptable from an elected official.
Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
Edited/Published by: WG
