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Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse raised eyebrows after making a controversial statement at a violence forum Thursday night.

“We’ve got a river that segregates us by race,” he said, “with far too many poor black people on one side, too many prosperous white people on the other.”

Reaction was strong on social media. One tweet reads, “I remember when I moved here 4 years ago. Everyone told me with tongue in cheek, ‘The West Shore is The White Shore.’”

City leaders and community activists on the East Shore say it’s not controversial, just fact, and once we realize it, we can address it.,

It’s not that clear cut for some. David La Torre, who runs a public relations firm in the city, tweeted at the mayor, “So it’s the fault of those of us who live on the West Shore? … I’d rather you just thank me for buying property, locating my business, and investing in another in Harrisburg.”

“It’s certainly not everybody on the West Shore is afraid to come to the East Shore,” said Darrel Reinford, executive director of Christian Churches United of the Tri-County Area in Harrisburg. The group provides social services to Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry counties.