http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/08/girls.name.ap/index.html California education chief calls preschooler 'stupid dirty girl' Riordan apologizes for remark Friday, July 9, 2004 Posted: 7:13 AM EDT (1113 GMT) LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- State Education Secretary Richard Riordan jokingly told a child her name, Isis, meant "stupid dirty girl," prompting the head of the California NAACP on Thursday to call for his resignation. Riordan, the wealthy former Los Angeles mayor known for his support of public schools, startled even friends last week with the comments at a promotional event for summer reading at the Santa Barbara library. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his longtime friend, called Riordan's statement to the girl "unacceptable in any context" but gave no hint his job was in danger. But Alice Huffman, president of the California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday that Riordan "is not suitable to lead education in our state" and should be removed. The conversation, videotaped by KEYT-TV, took place July 1. The girl, 6-year-old Isis D'Luciano, asked Riordan if he knew her name meant "Egyptian goddess." Riordan replied, "It means stupid dirty girl." After nervous laughter in the room, the girl again told Riordan the meaning of her name. "Hey, that's nifty," he said. A day later, Riordan issued a statement that said he "teased" the girl. "I immediately apologized to her, and I want to do so again for the misunderstanding," Riordan said. The governor's chief spokesman, Rob Stutzman, said Thursday Riordan had not been asked to resign and, "That's the end of the issue, as far as we are concerned." The girl's mother, Trinity Lila of Goleta, said her daughter was fine, and she considered the issue over. "Obviously it hurt her feelings, but she didn't take it personally. She knew he was wrong and she let it go," Lila said. "I'm not going to sue them for therapy bills." "He's already apologized repeatedly," Lila added. Although Riordan's office has tried to contact her, "I don't see what else is to be done." But the issue has persisted. In an editorial Thursday, The Sacramento Bee said California "shouldn't have an education secretary who makes offensive, damaging remarks to young children for no apparent reason." "He's the governor's top person on education, which means we would expect him to have some love and respect for children," Huffman said. "I think he is the wrong man for the job. There is no way for him to explain this away." Riordan, a venture capitalist who started a foundation supporting literacy, has a reputation for awkward -- some might say insensitive -- remarks and behavior. California Education Secretary Richard Riordan is under fire for his comment to a preschooler. As mayor, he once greeted hunger strikers outside his office eating a hamburger. In a speech to school administrators earlier this year, he told a story about a nun physically disciplining a student that startled some in the audience. "There wasn't an uproar, but some people felt the comment was inappropriate," said Joseph Jones, assistant executive director of the Association of California School Administrators. Democratic state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, who had scheduled a protest by civil rights organizations, canceled the demonstration after an apparent mix-up over the girl's racial background. Dymally was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News Thursday saying the child was "a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?" The girl is white, with blonde hair. Dymally did not return telephone calls. His office issued a statement Wednesday calling Riordan's remarks to the girl "outrageous and irresponsible," then issued another statement Thursday saying, "To err is human; to forgive is divine." "Race is not a factor in this issue," Dymally said in Thursday's statement, adding that Riordan had apologized a second time. "It is time for us to move on." So after reading this article, apparently if the little girl was black (as some originally thought) he is racist and should be fired, but if the little girl is white, he just made a mistake and can be forgiven. Does that seem like a double standard to anybody?
There is no question that Riordan should have never said this, and I am actually surprised that he has not been fired yet, regardless of this girl's race. But I agree with you completely here, Supermac, on the double standard. It is PC gone too far.
Whether or not the guy should be fired should be left to people with better knowledge of the guy's abilities, and how that stacks against this incident, but the girl and the mother in question didn't even to think it was that big of a deal, especially since he immediately apologized. The one thing I found strange in the article is how all of these different groups were ready to ramp up an attack on this guy if the little girl had been black, but since she was white, they can't play the race card, so all of their arguments are knocked down. Stupidity and racism often go hand in hand, but you can't always assume that when somebody says something stupid, its racism.
Wow, that's pretty refreshing. People say stupid things all the time but it doesn't always mean there should be lawsuits, protests, therapy, and sackings. Sounds like this little girl already "gets it". She's going to be just fine. LOL, OOPS! Nothing to see here, let's just "move on..."
Why does this remind me of the pilot in the movie Airplane? "Billy, have you ever been to a turkish prison?" This is no big deal. I don't love Riordan, but his awkward attempt at humor is pretty damned funny in its weirdness.
What even gave them the impression she was black? Did Mervyn Dymally just assume that white people wouldn't name a child Isis? Nice. Way to go guys.
I once dated a girl named Kenja. Upon hearing that, a lot of people's first questions were "Is she black?" There were several people who couldn't believe a white woman would name her kid Kenja (though Kenja's mother was named Doyla, and Kenja named her daughter Indigo).
It sounds like Riordan has Tourette's syndrome. I'm happy to see that a man can rise to a position of prominence despite suffering from an illness that can SLUTTY TEENAGE b****ES MUST GARGLE MY SCROTUM UNTIL IT SQUEAKS cause so much misunderstanding. Oh, sorry.
Well it seems the head of the NAACP in California is still calling for his resignation. LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- State Education Secretary Richard Riordan jokingly told a child her name, Isis, meant "stupid dirty girl," prompting the head of the California NAACP on Thursday to call for his resignation. Riordan, the wealthy former Los Angeles mayor known for his support of public schools, startled even friends last week with the comments at a promotional event for summer reading at the Santa Barbara library. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his longtime friend, called Riordan's statement to the girl "unacceptable in any context" but gave no hint his job was in danger. But Alice Huffman, president of the California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Thursday that Riordan "is not suitable to lead education in our state" and should be removed. The conversation, videotaped by KEYT-TV, took place July 1. The girl, 6-year-old Isis D'Luciano, asked Riordan if he knew her name meant "Egyptian goddess." Riordan replied, "It means stupid dirty girl." After nervous laughter in the room, the girl again told Riordan the meaning of her name. "Hey, that's nifty," he said. A day later, Riordan issued a statement that said he "teased" the girl. "I immediately apologized to her, and I want to do so again for the misunderstanding," Riordan said. The governor's chief spokesman, Rob Stutzman, said Thursday Riordan had not been asked to resign and, "That's the end of the issue, as far as we are concerned." The girl's mother, Trinity Lila of Goleta, said her daughter was fine, and she considered the issue over. "Obviously it hurt her feelings, but she didn't take it personally. She knew he was wrong and she let it go," Lila said. "I'm not going to sue them for therapy bills." "He's already apologized repeatedly," Lila added. Although Riordan's office has tried to contact her, "I don't see what else is to be done." But the issue has persisted. In an editorial Thursday, The Sacramento Bee said California "shouldn't have an education secretary who makes offensive, damaging remarks to young children for no apparent reason." "He's the governor's top person on education, which means we would expect him to have some love and respect for children," Huffman said. "I think he is the wrong man for the job. There is no way for him to explain this away." Riordan, a venture capitalist who started a foundation supporting literacy, has a reputation for awkward -- some might say insensitive -- remarks and behavior. As mayor, he once greeted hunger strikers outside his office eating a hamburger. In a speech to school administrators earlier this year, he told a story about a nun physically disciplining a student that startled some in the audience. "There wasn't an uproar, but some people felt the comment was inappropriate," said Joseph Jones, assistant executive director of the Association of California School Administrators. Democratic state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, who had scheduled a protest by civil rights organizations, canceled the demonstration after an apparent mix-up over the girl's racial background. Dymally was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News Thursday saying the child was "a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?" The girl is white, with blonde hair. Dymally did not return telephone calls. His office issued a statement Wednesday calling Riordan's remarks to the girl "outrageous and irresponsible," then issued another statement Thursday saying, "To err is human; to forgive is divine." "Race is not a factor in this issue," Dymally said in Thursday's statement, adding that Riordan had apologized a second time. "It is time for us to move on." I get what he was trying to do, but I wouldn't say something like that to somebody else's child and in public no less.
Amazing how quickly the issue went from the negative comments to race, then to the whole things being a non-issue once Dymally found out the kid was white. Both of these idiots should be removed from their positions because they are both equally insensitive to the people.
The girl's mother is cool - her statement is refreshing. You see it way too often that people would try to take advantage of a situation like that... Also, the part about him greeting hunger strikers while eating a burger made me laugh .
A perfect case of people grabbing onto something, then realizing they didn't grab what they wanted to grab...so they all just let go... The lesson in all this: Don't be so quick to grab without your reasons or maybe we shouldn't grab at everything we feel we need to grab.
