Cincinnati NAACP

The Cincinnati NAACP President finds Councilwoman Ghiz's Twitter activity about Councilwoman Cole reckless, immature, unprofessional, unbecoming of an elected official. Councilwoman Cole is the President of Council, the Finance Committee Chair, and senior member to Ghiz. Cole is African American and Ghiz is White. Ghiz Twittered the comments below during the last Cincinnati City Council Meeting:

"I don't have to go to church Sunday because I just heard a sermon from Cole."

"Keep digging a hole Laketa. Never shuts her mouth."

"Here she goes again. Does not know when to shut up."

Ghiz's comments were completely personal while Councilwoman Cole was speaking about the very important topic of Cincinnati's $20 million budget shortfall.  The Cincinnati NAACP President has been silent on the issue to give Councilwoman Ghiz the full opportunity to issue a public apology for her behavior during the last council meeting. "There is a major lack of leadership at City Hall because none of the elected officials have publicly denounced Ghiz's behavior, including Councilman Berding who is the Chair of the Rules Committee," Smitherman says.

"If Councilwoman Laketa Cole had done the same Twitter activity about Councilwoman Ghiz under the same exact conditions, it would have been a negative article on the front page of the newspaper. It also would have been discussed on every major local television and radio station. Although a few have denounced Ghiz's behavior, her actions were not highly reported. Smitherman added that when news outlets regularly report on African Americans, particularly those in leadership roles, they do so with a negative tone.