06/02/2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Blaine Coalition for Racial Equity calls for the Resignation of City Council-member Larson for racist comments.
Blaine, May 28 - Community leaders, advocates, and residents gathered on Sunday to urge the resignation/removal of Blaine City Councilmember Leslie Larson for racist, unethical, and anti-law enforcement comments.
We are calling upon the City of Blaine, Minnesota, Government to take these actionable steps to ensure that Blaine remains a place where Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are at the forefront of the values carried by our elected officials. We are asking for Councilmember Larson to step down for her comments, the formation of a DEI commission for our city, and for the Blaine Charter commission to research and implement a formal removal process for elected officials.
On January 27th of 2022, Councilmember Larson commented on a post made on Facebook:
“Can we also all pretend to be black so we can all have a chance at becoming a Supreme Court Justice?”
This statement is insensitive and offensive to people of color who have faced discrimination and prejudice throughout their lives. It suggests that the only way to become a Supreme Court Justice is to be black, and that being black is something that can be easily pretended or faked.
This phrase perpetuates harmful stereotypes about race and ignores the systemic barriers that people of color face in many areas of society, including the legal system.
During Larson’s Campaign, her campaign literature contains the phrase:
“Keep Blaine suburban, not urban!”
It has the phrase “not urban!” underlined in red. Given the history of her racially charged comments, this phrase is a dog whistle to exclusionary zoning policies.
Exclusionary zoning policies keeps affordable housing out of neighborhoods through land use and is a practice that has been used over decades to keep lower-income people–who are disproportionately racial minorities–out of wealthy and middle-class neighborhoods across our country.
Larson’s statement suggests that urban areas are undesirable because they are associated with people of color or low-income communities. This is seen as a form of implicit bias or prejudice, as it reinforces negative stereotypes about urban areas and the people who live there.
On September 2nd of 2021, Larson commented on a post by Kare 11 about the charges against Kim Potter in the shooting of Daunte Wright:
“Too bad she wasn't employed at the capital instead. Killing citizens is encouraged there and vour work is called "bravery" and "courage". This unfortunate mother was just employed at the wrong department and it's a tragedy what the state has done to her.”
This statement is unethical because it equates the actions of a law enforcement officer in a specific incident with the actions of a violent mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol. The phrase suggests that law enforcement officers are encouraged to use excessive force and that they are no different from the violent insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol.
This is not true, and it ignores the fact that most law enforcement officers are dedicated public servants who work hard to protect their communities. Additionally, the phrase is insensitive to the family and friends of the victim, who are likely grieving and in pain.
While the people definitely deserve an apology, we also would ask her to resign for the following reason.
These screenshots were posted around 3 weeks prior to the April special election by a resident who chose to stay anonymous. Instead of owning up to the statements that she made, Larson and her supporters chose to call these screenshots “slander” and “photoshop”.
When confronted about the fact that she commented from her personal account, Larson said:
“Clearly I did not say this. Nice try to slander but it doesn’t work.”
# # #
