Maryland delegate apologizes to some leaders for racial slur

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Black Legislative Caucus says they feel a delegates apology for using the ‘n-word’ at an after hours meeting to describe Prince George’s County is ‘woefully inadequate’.

According to reporting done by the Washington Post, Harford Democratic Delegate Mary Ann Lisanti told a white colleague in late January at Annapolis Cigar, that when he campaigned last fall in House District 26 in Prince George’s County on behalf of a candidate, he was quote knocking on doors in a “n-word district.”

Caucus chair Del. Darryl Barnes, a fellow Democrat from Prince George’s County, told  The Washington Post that she appeared contrite when confronted Monday night, but said she didn’t “remember fully what happened.” The paper also says House Speaker Michael E. Busch called on the Harford County Democrat to “face the consequences of her behavior.”

She told the Post earlier this month that she didn’t recall using the slur, but was “sure everyone has used it.”

47 ABC caught with Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes, a member of the Black Caucus who says she’s disappointed her colleague would say something like that. “I said to her, is this the conversation you had in your household, is that why you make such a statement? If that is the case, they need to as leaders to be able to take the stand, this is not right, and we can move forward to provide training and having tough conversation.”

In a statement from Delegate Lisanti, she apologized for her word choice. She said, “I am sickened that a word that is not in my vocabulary came out of my mouth, it does not represent my belief system, my life’s work, or what it is my heart.” Lisanti also said she made an agreement with the House Speaker to step down from her leadership position as a co-chair and agreed to participate in a sensitivity training.