Politics: College Republican Chief Forced To Resign

thenry — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:09:00 +0000

He said he didn’t realize his comments about Barack’s “big lips” were offensive.
College Republican chief is forced to resign. The head of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans gave up his seat this week after getting slammed for a racist comment he posted online about Sen. Barack Obama. In late July, Adam LaDuca, 21, a senior at Kutztown University, wrote on his Facebook page that Obama has “a pair of lips so large he could float half of Cuba to the shores of Miami (and probably would.)” But it’s not the first time LaDuca has fired off barbs at prominent Black leaders. Among his other gems, he called Martin Luther King Jr. a “pariah” and a “fraud” and that “Man, if sayin’ someone has large lips is a racial slur, then we’re ALL in trouble.” But his slurs were even too much for his fellow College Republicans, who asked him to step down. The remarks blew up after they were publicized in the Pennsylvania Progressive, a blog written by a Democratic committeeman from Berks County. “The comments were completely uncalled for and very offensive,” said Anthony Pugliese, 22, a senior at West Chester University and chairman of the College Republicans, which has more than 50 chapters statewide. “The P-A College Republicans do not accept or tolerate racism in any way.” DaLuca said he wishes he hadn’t published the big-lips comment. “In hindsight, when you read it a second time, it’s like, ‘oops,’” he said. “It was just a dumb move on my part to make a statement like that public.”

News You Should Know | BET.com » federation

Politics: College Republican Chief Forced To Resign