This week during an event to related to the mayoral race in Savannah, GA, one of the most racist things you can imagine happened.

On the front door of the location, which happens to be a Baptist Church of all places, there was a sign that said “Black Press Only!”.

The Associated Press reports,

Organizers of a meeting to discuss an upcoming mayoral race in Georgia barred reporters from attending — unless they were African-American.

The Wednesday meeting at a church in Savannah was held to try to unite the city’s black community behind a single candidate for mayor in the Nov. 5 election. Signs at the door said “Black Press Only!”

White reporters were denied entry, while at least two black reporters and the publisher of a local African-American newspaper were allowed inside, the Savannah Morning News reported . Television cameras and recording devices were also prohibited.

The newspaper said the Rev. Clarence Teddy Williams, who organized the meeting, declined to discuss the entry policy.

Mayor Eddie DeLoach is seeking re-election this fall. He became Savannah’s first white mayor in 20 years after winning the 2015 campaign. Elections for Savannah’s top office are nonpartisan, meaning all candidates who qualify end up on the November ballot. 

I’ll be honest. This isn’t anything surprising to me. In my experience, black people are just as racist as anyone else, if not more so.

Black Press Only!? It’s like the black community fought so hard to end segregation and be among the rest of the community and now they’re trying to throw it all away and revert back to the pre-civil rights era.

According to Fox News,

Van Johnson, a Savannah city councilman and one of three black mayoral candidates to have announced campaigns so far, attended the Wednesday meeting at Bolton Street Baptist Church. Johnson said afterward he relayed “my vision for an inclusive Savannah, a progressive Savannah.”

Johnson issued a revised statement on Thursday on Facebook, calling the organizer’s decision to ban certain journalists “unfortunate” and saying he expressed his concerns with them over their move.

“I have expressed my concerns to the organizers of this event as my history of service in this community has ALWAYS been one of inclusion, of partnership and of communication,” Johnson said in a statement. “While this decision of this group is unfortunate, I work toward the day when we trust each other enough to be inclusive in all of our gatherings.”

I get the feeling that Johnson really doesn’t care a whole lot about the sign. If he really cared and was a champion of inclusion and equality, he would have done the right thing and refused to speak at the event.

Photo Credit: Elliot Erwitt