Peekskill NY City Manager Rick Finn Accused of Questioning Intelligence of Blacks During Training Session

Peekskill NY city manager Rick Finn under fire for comments made during communication training session in which he asked facilitator how a room filled with blacks would be categorized for communication style, maligning intelligence of African Americans.

Peekskill City manager Rick Finn is under fire for comments he made at a recent training session where he asked if a room was filled with African Americans, how would they be expected to act, in terms of communication styles. Er, does he expect blacks to act like loud-mouths? What difference does being black mean to a communication style, unless you were trying to play on negative stereotypes?

City Manager Rick Finn held an afternoon news conference reiterating an exchange he had with the facilitator at a communications training session for employees. At one point, he said, the trainer led the discussion by "categorizing audiences as having four communication styles: driver, analytical, amiable or creative," and how to address them when you are not sure which style to use.

"If you're just out there and you don't know what to do, and you don't know who they are, I'm suggesting err on the side of primarily being an amiable," the trainer said, according to Finn's statement.

Finn said his response was "Does this carry true for different races and cultures? What if this entire room was filled with African-Americans? Is that still true?" Source

The fact that he did not take questions at the press conference speaks volumes and hits the heart of his intent -- to malign the intelligence of blacks. The sad reality is that he isn't the first person to do this nor will he be the last. My question is, why did he have to single blacks out? Above all, why even ask the question in the first place?

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