To paraphrase the great musician Elton John, “sorry” really is the hardest word to say at times.
But “sorry” is exactly the word that Sarasota City Commissioner Kyle Battie must utter right now.
Battie should do it so that the emotional outcry that now rages over whether a specific individual posted racially offensive material on social media can properly evolve into a reasoned discussion over the fact that a racist act did occur in our community – one that shouldn’t be taking place in this city under any circumstances.
Look, it’s highly problematic to go too deeply into the weeds on the back-and-forth regarding the controversy. But here’s what appears to be beyond much contention:
- During a Jan. 16 meeting, Battie – a Black male commissioner on the five-member Sarasota City Commission – rightly expressed outrage over a Facebook post that referred to him and the co-owner of a local downtown business, who is half-Black, as “gorillas.”
- During his passionate presentation, Battie displayed a copy of the racist post in a manner that appeared to attribute the material to a resident who is also a vocal activist on city issues.
- While Battie never specifically mentioned the resident’s name during his remarks, the perception was allowed to linger that there was link between the citizen and the offensive post.
- The resident quickly denied any involvement with – or prior knowledge of – the racist post.
- The resident stated that the material had been manufactured by others who had taken words she’d written for a Dec. 2022 Facebook post – which was accompanied by photos of gorillas she had seen during a past safari trip – and used them to produce a hoax post specifically targeting Battie and the business co-owner.
- The resident retained a lawyer who has notified the city that his client intends to sue Battie.
- During its Monday, Feb. 5 meeting, the city commission is expected to discuss whether to spend funds to retain legal representation for Battie if he is sued by the resident.