Delegate Mary Ann Lisanti
Maryland’s House of Delegates unanimously voted 136-0 to censure Del. Mary Ann Lisanti for using a racial slur.
Lisanti, a Democrat who represents Harford County, was disciplined overwhelmingly by her colleagues days after it was reported that she referred to a legislative district in Prince George’s County as “a nigger district.”
Censure typically means that a lawmaker may not serve on a committee, but that they may vote on the floor.
In remarks before the vote Thursday evening, the House’s majority leader, Del. Kathleen Dumais, said Lisanti’s words merited a serious response.
“With this vote, we are saying as a body that racial slurs and racially charged language cannot and will not be tolerated by this house,” she said.
“… It is incumbent upon us not just speak for our own hurt and disappointment at the use of this language, but speak for every one of our constituents, the district in question and every district and every county in Maryland to say that this is not acceptable.”
In terms of disciplinary measures by House leadership, censure falls between a public reprimand and expulsion. Previous disciplinary measures in the body include:
- Del. Tony McConkey’s 2013 reprimand for working language into a bill that would have directly benefited his real estate business.
- State Sen. Ulysses Currie’s 2012 censure for failing to report work for a grocery store chain. He was acquitted of federal charges, but an ethics committee found violations.
- State Sen. Larry Young 1998 expulsion for using his office for personal gain.
Many problems in Maryland emanate from state or Federal institutions in which major crimes involving elected or appointed in positions are covered up of wrong doing willfully due to white supremacy in our institutions. A brutally hostile Democratic Party machine over the years has facilitated an entrenched system of legalized racism which continues today. It’s time to change this culture of misusing the court system for legal lynching and the legislature to cover up criminal legislators. Younger generation of leaders currently in various leadership roles must be in the forefront more than ever to demand answers and help change the status quo.
Institutional racism was defined by Sir William Macpherson in the 1999 Lawrence report (UK) as: “The collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behavior which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people.”
In a statement Thursday night, House Speaker Michael Busch said Lisanti “has a lot of work to do to rebuild her relationships with her colleagues, her constituents and the people of Maryland.”
“I hope she is ready and prepared to put in the effort for the long road ahead,” he said.
However, Maryland as a state needs to prepare for Change management (sometimes abbreviated as CM) in order to attack and dismantle institutional racism currently in progress within the Maryland legislature, Maryland state agencies, county agencies, Maryland school systems and court system in Maryland. CM defined as a collective term for all approaches to prepare and support individuals, teams, and organizations in making organizational change is a vital tool in today’s society. Major changes in the coming years will include the Maryland General Assembly, the county councils, Offices of the County Executives, the Maryland governor’s office as a whole and their relationships with various unions around the world.
More to come.
We reprint the report by Washington Post below:
Lisanti under major water vows to stay in office after racial slur censure. It’s possible she knows much more violations have been committed over the years by others and she might be getting ready to expose various vices in order to change Maryland for the better. Time will tell in the next few weeks. If she does not produce an earthquake to advance positive policy changes in Maryland, she might be expelled. There are confirmed reports that, racism played a major role in the defeat of democratic nominee Mr. Ben Jealous in the November 2018 general elections.
By Arelis R. Hernández Ovetta Wiggins
The Maryland House of Delegates voted unanimously Thursday to censure Del. Mary Ann Lisanti for referring to a Prince George’s County legislative district as a “n—– district,” a slur that Majority Leader Kathleen M. Dumais said “cannot and will not be tolerated.”
The House voted 137 to 0, with two excused absences, to impose its second-most-severe punishment on Lisanti (D-Harford), who used the racial slur in a conversation with other lawmakers at an after-hours gathering in late January.
Lisanti, who issued a public apology earlier this week, told The Washington Post after the incident that she did not recall making the remark. On Thursday, she said there was no “independent verification” that she had used the slur, even as she accepted responsibility for doing so.
Del. Jay Walker (D-Prince George’s), whose district Lisanti was referring to, was present at the gathering and told The Post he heard the remark and addressed it with Lisanti privately. Other Democratic lawmakers, including some in leadership positions, say lawmakers who heard the remark told them about it as well.
The censure is the first imposed by the House in decades, staffers said. It comes as Lisanti, 51, is resisting calls from House leaders and others across the political spectrum to step down.
“This is a serious situation and it warrants a serious response from this body,” said Dumais (D-Montgomery), her voice emotional. “Outside of elections, the power to discipline members is ours and ours alone.”
Lisanti, one of only a few elected Democrats in mostly white Harford County, told reporters after the vote that she plans to stay in office and work to regain the trust of her constituents and fellow lawmakers.
But she also struck a defiant tone, saying that her colleagues who “heard or thought they overhead an inappropriate word” should have filed an ethics complaint against her instead of speaking to reporters.
Lisanti — who in a statement Tuesday apologized “for my word choice several weeks ago” — said Thursday that some of her critics “rushed to judgment” and “jumped on the bandwagon of condemnation” for political expediency.
“Quitting is easy, but not the road to redemption,” she said. “Staying here, accepting responsibility, is hard work. . . . But I am up for the challenge. And that is why I am staying. Healing begins tomorrow.”
Asked by The Post in early February whether she had ever used the slur, she said: “I’m sure I have. . . . I’m sure everyone has used it. I’ve used the f-word. I used the Lord’s name in vain.”
The revelation of Lisanti’s remark has sparked outrage across the state and an uproar in the State House. It is the latest race-related embarrassment for Democratic politicians, who were already reeling from revelations in Virginia that Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) decades ago wore blackface. Northam, too, has vowed to stay in office and make amends.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) stripped Lisanti of her leadership posts on Tuesday and took away her committee assignments Thursday, leaving her with little to do in the legislature other than testify on proposed legislation and cast votes on bills on the House floor.
Censuring Lisanti was necessary, Busch said, to “protect the integrity of the House.”
“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Busch said, adding that he and other House leaders spoke to Lisanti about the pros and cons of resigning. “It’s a sad day for everybody.”
Resignation, he added, is “her decision — her call to make,” he said.
Before Thursday, the last Maryland lawmaker to be censured was then-Sen. Ulysses Currie, a Prince George’s Democrat, in 2012, after his acquittal on federal bribery and corruption charges.
Del. Michael A. Jackson (D), who chairs the Prince George’s County legislative delegation, said Lisanti’s reluctance to leave office is a distraction that threatens to compromise the integrity of the legislative body and its work.
“You cannot serve effectively and have these biases,” Jackson said. “We are considering legislation that looks at housing conditions, educational equity, the criminal justice system . . . I don’t think she should be in this body.”
If Lisanti were to resign, the Harford County Democratic Central Committee would recommend a replacement for her to Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who would be charged with appointing someone to fill the seat.
In the House on Thursday morning, two Republican colleagues patted Lisanti on the back and gave her a hug as they waited for House leaders to enter the chamber. The session started late, and people familiar with the situation attributed the delay to meetings among House leaders about what steps to take regarding Lisanti’s conduct.
Referring Lisanti’s case to the House Ethics committee did not seem like a good option, lawmakers said, because it was not clear she had violated any ethics law.
House leaders told the Democratic caucus in a closed-door meeting that they would vote for censure, which requires a simply majority to pass. A censure is one step short of expulsion — which would require referral to the ethics committee and a two-thirds vote from the entire chamber.
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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Two weeks ago a horrific crash in Bowie, Maryland claimed the lives of five children.
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