Phoenix NAACP leader in trouble after he says 'nice t*ts' to reporter outside meeting

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The leader of the NAACP in Phoenix hopes his community takes a stand against racism, but is now under fire himself after he had no problem making a sexist comment about a reporter.

Don Harris, president of the civil rights organization’s Maricopa County chapter, was speaking about reaction to six girls spelling the N-word on their shirts at a local high school when he said “nice t*ts” to a female reporter.

Audio of the remark, about 12 News’s Monique Griego, was caught on tape by the Phoenix New Times outside a meeting about the damage done by offensive words such as racial slurs.

Harris’s outburst was followed by a bizarre mea culpa from the former lawyer, who told the Times, “I apologize if anyone was offended. I could have said nothing . . . I'm really f***ing sorry.”

“I'm going to slash my wrists," the 77-year-old, who is white and in his second year as NAACP leader, said in response to a question about fighting sexism.

"Better yet, I'm going to throw myself out of a f***ing window, except I'm on the first floor . . . I'm one of the best goddamned people in the state.”


Harris, who is described as “a character” and is friends with Maricopa County’s controversial Trump-supporting sheriff Joe Arpaio, offered evidence of his commitment to the NAACP by saying he gave up his law practice to be able to devote more of his time to the cause.

Despite his assertion of greatness, others said that he may not be the best person to continue leading civil rights efforts in Phoenix.

Rev. Jarrett Maupin, an activist who leads the city’s Fellowship Baptist Church, called for Harris’s resignation.

He told the Daily News that he was fine with a white man being leader of a NAACP chapter and considers Harris a friend, but also chalked up the president’s gaffe toward a Latina woman to his “white privilege.”

“When you have a certain amount of privilege in your mind, you’ll say what you want about anything.”

Maupin was also upset by the remark’s setting, outside a meeting discussing how to move forward after nation-wide backlash to the N-word picture day photo at Desert Vista High School led to the snap’s subjects being suspended.

One of the students, who was wearing the letter R, has apologized, though calls continue for the gang of six smiling teens to be expelled.

Ann Hart, the Maricopa County NAACP’s first vice president, said that the chapter does not condone its leaders' words, and hopes to focus on the situations such as racism at the high school rather than Harris’s remarks.

She told the Daily News that she has appreciated his work, and added that she anticipates any decision about resigning “will be clearly up to him.”

On Wednesday night,12 News released a statement saying that Griego had not heard Harris's comment when it was said, and did not want to comment on the incident.





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