Brockton Official Offended By Attorney’s Slavery Comment At Board Meeting

A Brockton Planning Board member says that he was "totally offended" after a prominent Brockton attorney made a comment about slavery during Tuesday night’s board meeting.

According to WCVB 5, the incident happened when John Creedon, a longtime attorney from Easton, appeared before the board on behalf of a CVS pharmacy, looking to open a new Main Street location in Brockton.

When Creedon stated that the company would need to build on the property at 12 Keith Street, Planning Board member Gary Keith, who is African-American, joked that the house had belonged to his family because he has the same name.

Then, Creedon asked Keith if he had been their slave.

According to board member and former city council candidate, Ollie Spears, "Everybody's mouth dropped," after Creedon made this terrible and racist comment. "Everybody said, Is this dude serious? I was totally offended. It is totally disrespectful, especially with the climate right now in this country."

On Wednesday, Creedon stated that he apologized during the meeting and again afterward to both Spears and Keith, and he stated that his intention was to not offend anyone. Also, Creedon stated that his comment dated back to how the historic property owners in that neighborhood were racist, with black-face lawn jockey ornaments in front of their homes.

Keith stated that he knows Creedon personally and that the attorney did not mean to harm and was only making a comment in an attempt at humor.

Spears claimed Creedon's lawn jockey explanation as strange, but accepted the apology.

Spears stated that he was appalled, noting that the Planning Board also features two other African-Americans, “Reggie Thomas and Andrea Burton. It is crazy. That shouldn't happen, not in 2016."

With additional reporting by Sal Lopez