Bayou Protest Over Alleged Racist Statement

Alabama Bayou La Batre Some people in Bayou La Batre claim a city official made racist remarks.

by Steve Alexander

Published: Mon, August 11, 2008 - 8:42 pm CST Last Updated: Mon, August 11, 2008 - 9:36 pm CST

A city council work session in Bayou La Batre turned noisy Monday night amid allegations that a city employee made racist statements against Vietnamese.
About sixty people marched into Bayou La Batre City Hall where Mayor Stan Wright and the city council were meeting.
The protestors were upset because was they say City Inspector Tommy Reynoso made racist statements during a tour of Bayou La Batre and Coden.
One of the protestors, Zack Carter, talked about what he heard.
Carter said, "We passed a home with some Asians were out front, and they were very friendly and waving, and you can tell that their house was severely damaged. The remark that he made, he said, 'See, they're happy, they're used to living like this. This is how they lived in Vietnam.' "
Some members of the group wanted an apology.
Others wanted Reynoso to resign and they addressed Mayor Stan Wright.
But Wright questioned the timing of the protest.
Wright said, "This (Reynoso's statement) was supposed to have happened in 2006. They come up here two weeks before the election, I think most of it is politically motivated. It's the definition of dirty politics but if this gentleman that made this allegation will come bring me a signed document, then I will definitely have it investigated and I will deal with it accordingly."
Reynoso was not available for comment Monday night.
He's on military leave and not expected back until Wednesday.
The Bayou La Batre City Council will hold its regular meeting Thursday night.

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carl Says:

Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 12:59 pm

A racist can be of any race or color but this smells a aweful lot like dirty politics. So maybe the backlash from it will be greater than what they thought they might gain.

curious2008 Says:

Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 8:04 am

He is not racist, I know him and I have NEVER heard him make a racist remark. The mayor said it right when he said it is dirty politics.

curious2008 Says:

Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 8:03 am

I heard the guy they are speaking of Tommy Reynoso is Mexican so how can they claim he is racist to asians, blacks and mexicans.

carl Says:

Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 6:50 am

These protesters aren’t slow, they’re dead in the water ! This smells to high heaven like some of those bloated fish floating in the bay. FISH AND PROTESTORS SMELL AFTER THREE DAYS !!

The wife Says:

Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 5:07 am

They kept the sound of those words in their head until they learned to speak English. Now, they think they know what he said.

sweetnsour Says:

Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 10:54 pm

Are the protesters a little slow. It took them two years to protest. Wonder if there is a statute of limitations on getting your feelings hurt by what someone says. If someone said that about me they would have probably been right, I have survival skills. Wow them I could have dubbed them sexist, I am female.

n2dablue Says:

Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 10:18 pm

That doesn’t sound like a racist comment. That’s ridiculous. The man merely made an observation and comment on what he thought to be true.