BEING NOT-SO-RIGHT IN PHILLY: BACKLASH AGAINST MAGAZINE ARTICLE CONTINUES

After three weeks of drama surrounding Philadelphia Magazine’s cover story, it was time to hear what it was like to be black in Philly. And we were there for the showdown at the National Constitution Center, which came on a rather curious anniversary. By the way, we note this in the article itself, but we must say here that the Robert Huber that wrote the controversial article is NOT the Robert Huber that we profile on this website that is in the Delaware neo-Nazi music scene.

One People’s Project

PHILADELPHIA, PA—For three weeks, an article in a local magazine sparked such racial controversy that on Monday the editor held a forum with himself, black community leaders and the author of the article at the National Constitution Center in the same auditorium that then-Senator Obama gave his famous speech on race five years ago to the day.

Left to Right, Tom McGrath, Walter Palmer Robert Huber, Faith Jimenez, Solomon Jones and Christopher Jones.

About 200 people of all races and cultures packed the auditorium to participate in the forum regarding the Philadelphia Magazine cover article for their March issue titled “Being White In Philly”. The article, written by Robert Huber, focused on how whites in a certain neighborhood of Philadelphia related to blacks in another nearby neighborhood, and many felt all it did was promote racial stereotypes of black people. Philadelphia Magazine editor Tom McGrath, in his role as moderator, apologized to those that were hurt by the article, but said he did not regret publishing it. Huber also attempted to clarify his intent with the article, saying it was an attempt to open the door to a discussion among blacks and whites about race.

Huber shared the stage with journalists Solomon Jones and Christopher Norris, People’s Emergency Center president Farah Jimenez, and University of Pennsylvania lecturer Walter Palmer, who teaches about racism and social change. Jones spoke on the general sentiment felt in the room that the article was questionable considering the fact that there are no black people on its editorial staff. He also had suspicions that the article was in truth a grab at publicity, something McGrath denied.

Very few persons in the auditorium defended the article. The only person that seemed to support Huber was Nicholas King, a notorious attention-seeker who was best known for walking on stage during the Grammys in 2003 and the MTV Video Music Awards in 2006 until this year, when he dressed up as a Klansman and stood in the street in Center City to make a point about black on black crime. One person even spoke up to note that none of those who were profiled in the article attended the forum, leading him to feel that the objective of the event was not met. “That says we have failed,” he said.

The following evening, McGrath and Huber both attended a forum sponsored by the National Association of Black Journalists where it became even more heated with local black journalists charging both men with being racist.

Ironically, Robert Huber is also the name of the guitarist of the Delaware-based neo-Nazi bands Blue Eyed Devils and Teardown and founder of the now-defunct neo-Nazi Final Stand Records. Although this sparked some initial concern from those familiar with that Robert Huber, who also worked at the University of Delaware, there has not been anything revealed that indicates any relationship or association with the Robert Huber that wrote the article.