I wonder how Leroy Jones, the black Chairman of the Essex County Democrat Committee, looks at himself in the mirror. I wonder how he looks at his family and the members of his community. I wonder how he feels as he sits in the pews of the black church he attends, and how he feels while sitting in the black barbershop. More specifically, I wonder how the people of Essex County, New Jersey as a whole, feel about Jones.
In his capacity as Chairman of the Essex County Democrat Committee, Jones has provided aid and comfort to one of the most undeniably transpicuous racists in all of New Jersey. I’m talking about Klu Klux Klan and Aryan Brotherhood type racism, and the person who is the face of same is Marie Strumolo Burke, Belleville’s First Ward Councilwoman.
Burke was publicly exposed as the racist she is, when a voicemail left on Democrat Councilman Kevin Kennedy’s answering machine surfaced of her screaming that changing the town’s tax rates would turn the town into an “F*****g n***** town.” As I noted in several articles I have written about Burke, she was Belleville, New Jersey’s mayoral candidate when her racist epithets surfaced. In fact, Burke was named Racist of the Month for April on my blog http://mychal-massie.com/premium. As offensive and damning as Burke’s tirade was, and in the face of incontrovertible evidence that it was her voice on the recording, Burke not only denied it was her voice, she also refused to end her mayoral campaign. But even more telling is the fact that she lost the race to the eventual winner, Democrat Raymond Kimble, by a slim margin of 2,277 to 1,900, a mere 377 vote difference. A reasonable person could conclude that her narrow defeat speaks volumes about Belleville, New Jersey and Essex County.
There is no scenario known to man by which a Republican, much less a Conservative Republican or a Tea Party member could make such a vulgar statement and not have the national news go into an apoplectic frenzy. In the case of Burke, even the New Jersey Star Ledger newspaper has stopped covering it.
Burke defiantly remains on the Belleville, New Jersey Municipal Council and she remains an officer on the Essex County Democrat Committee. To be fair, the Belleville, NJ Municipal Council on April 22, 2014, by majority vote of those in attendance, resolved to censure Burke: “...for her racist remarks directed towards the African-American Community, which remarks were publicly exposed during the Township of Belleville Council Meeting which was held on April 8, 2014, and remove her from her position as Democrat Chair in the Township of Belleville.” The resolution fell on deaf ears.
On May 27, 2014, the Belleville Municipal Council unanimously passed Resolution No. 14-92, requesting the resignation of Burke from the council. Burke refused to resign from the Municipal Council.
The National Democratic Committee, the State Democratic Committee and the Essex County Democratic Committee have steadfastly refused to take any reasonable action against Burke. Instead Burke received what amounts to a slap on the wrist as she was demoted from Chairman of Essex County Democratic Committee to Vice Chairman of the Committee.
Meanwhile Jones, who now Chairs the Democratic Committee, is quieter than a church mouse. Does Leroy Jones, the black man who supposedly leads the Democrat Party in Essex County have any sense of pride or dignity? He has ducked my repeated attempts to have him comment on the record. But what does he tell his black constituents? What will it take for him to behave like a man? Or has the Democrat Party completely emasculated him?
Belleville, New Jersey has a 41 percent minority population. What a deplorable show of contempt being shown them by the Democrat Party they blindly support. Leroy Jones should be ashamed of himself, as should the media and every race monger. The Municipal Council has taken steps to remove the stench of in-your-face racism by Burke, but obviously, the Democrat Party could care less about doing the right thing and demanding that Burke resign.
As for Leroy Jones, I’ve just said the only positive things I can say about him. I could say more truthful negative things about him but there is no need for me to do so at this time, because I would like to think he sees in the mirror everything I could possibly say.
Mychal S. Massie is the former National Chairman of the conservative black think tank, Project 21-The National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives; and a member of its parent think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research. You can find more at mychal-massie.com.
