Ann Murray statement:
“In 2007, I used a word I should have never used. Minutes after saying it, I apologized to my co-workers and subordinates. Eventually, I received a very strong reprimand from my supervisor. To this day, I have the deepest regret for the incident and the pain I may have caused others. I ask the African American community and all communities who suffer with the ugliness of bigotry to accept my sincerest apology. I pray for healing and forgiveness from those I have offended as we move toward a new chapter and forever close the old.”
Ummm, did I miss something? Since when does a “smirk” or “smurk” equal an apology?
From Bob Norman’s original report in NEW TIMES:
“Funchess remembered it a little differently, saying that Murray had referred to a football game where she had to sit in the ‘nigger bleed section.’ She said that after Spince confronted Murray, telling her that word wasn’t in her vocabulary, Murray then ‘smirked’ before explaining that she didn’t know if it was raining in the seating section or they were pouring beer. Funchess reported that Murray then apologized and said, ‘I forgot the company that I was in.’
That’s basically the way bus driver Penny Smith heard it as well.
‘When she said that, Mrs. Spince told her that was not acceptable,’ Smith wrote in her statement on the incident. ‘[Murray] gave Mrs. Spince the smurk [sic] look. Mrs. Spince and one of the drivers walked so [Murray] said, Oh!!! I forgot the company I was in.’ ‘”
Coward
