UPDATE: Sen. Chappelle-Nadal Said Slave Comments Not Racial; Won't Step Down

Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal tells University City Patch that she will not resign over slave comments she made earlier this week on The Bernie Hayes radio show on WGNU (920-AM).

The remarks drew the ire of the President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed, who released a statement calling on Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat from University City, to step down, because she was "unfit to lead."

Chappelle-Nadal tells University City Patch that Reed's call for her resignation is "laughable." She said Reed has never come to her office to talk about the local control issue or her concerns with it and that he's the one "making this a racial issue."  She added that it's not about race at all but her belief that the local control bill could do away with the city police officers' pensions. "I care about the livelihood of police officers," she said. 

Nadal-Chapelle said her major opposition to local control is Chapter 84. She said the bill is ok if they simply get rid of the language doing away with Chapter 84, specifically section 84.160, which deals with employment terms and benefits for St. Louis city police officers.

She said no where in the HB or the SB substitute does it address what will be put in place to ensure the safety of police officer pensions. "When public pensions are at stake, the welfare of widows and dependent children are put on the line as well."

Chappelle-Nadal said the Senate substitute even removed language that would allow the force to begin collective baragaining instead.

"I won't back down to thug politics," she told U City Patch. "Take out the section concerning Chapter 84 and they can have their damn local control."

She said to be attacked by city officials because of her opinion us just terrible. "Instead of focusing on the substance of the bill, certain people have instead gone on the attack, calling me out by my name, questioning my sexual orientation, my heritage, anything to get around the issue at hand, which is the livelihood of police officers."

According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, in the radio interview Chappelle-Nadal characterized efforts to gain control of the St. Louis  Police Department from the state and return control to the City of St. Louis, "nothing different than what slave politics was."

According to the Post, Chappelle-Nadal compared Rex Sinquefield, a wealthy businessman who has helped finance a political campaign for local control a "plantation owner."

"What these plantation owners like Rex Sinquefield are doing is using some of their house slaves that are elected in St. Louis," Chappelle-Nadal said. 

In his statement, Reed called Chappelle-Nadal’s comments "deplorable," adding they "drags us back to an era that this country has worked hard to move past."

Chappelle-Nadal told U City Patch that she is not moving from her position. "I'm  sticking to my guns," she said. She acknowledged that her remarks were provocative, but  said "I don't apologize for it."

She said Rex Sinquefield is a rich man buying off politicians. "Rex has been dangling his money around and he has been taking away the democratic process piece by piece with his money." She said Sinquefield has used his money to motivate leaders to act in certain ways. She said the wealthy financier has been trying to buy politicians, one by one, black, white, urban and rural.