Troy

The pastor of Troy's oldest African American church is calling for Councilman Mark McGrath's resignation over the politician's racial slur caught in an old voice mail recording.

The Rev. George Whitfield of Fifth Avenue A.M.E. Zion Church made the request in an email to City Council President Carmella Mantello on Saturday.

"Our community must have a zero tolerance for that type of offensive action and anything short of resignation is unacceptable," Whitfield wrote. "This past week, the members of the Troy community more specifically the residents of District 2 were made aware of some racist comments that (McGrath) made three years ago. These comments are disturbing, outright disrespectful, and do not reflect the core values of our Troy community."

Both Whitfield's church and home are in District 2, which McGrath represents as a Conservative Party member who ran with Republican support. When Whitfield arrived in Troy two years ago, he asked McGrath to help him learn more about the community. McGrath gave him a tour but Whitfield says the two have not interacted much since then.

It remains unclear who McGrath is talking about in the 12-second voicemail obtained by the Times Union; the name of the recipient was bleeped out. McGrath's voice says: "That f---ing n----r. F---ing c--n f--k," he says. "Hey ... it's Mark McGrath, give me a call, will ya?"

McGrath's response to public outcry after the voicemail was released did not impress Whitfield. In his email to Mantello, Whitfield wrote: "As an elected official you lose the confidence of the people you have been sworn to represent, when you choose to say such hateful things about a member of a particular community. For over 400 years African Americans have endured demeaning language and in 2019 we stand up to express that enough is enough."

Whitfield copied the email to the other members of the council, including McGrath.

"His saying that he can't actually be a racist because he's lived in this district his whole life is like a white person saying he has black friends," Whitfield told the Times Union. "McGrath argued that he only used the word because he was upset but that's when a person's true self comes out. I've been upset before with my white and Hispanic brothers and sisters and I've never talked about them that way."

Whitfield believes people can change for the better.

"He needs to step down so he can focus on working on himself spiritually and rebuilding trust with the community," Whitfield said. "Redemption is possible, it can happen."

McGrath, asked for a response from the Times Union, replied:

"I can appreciate that some will continue to be angry about this. I have spoken with many community members who have been gracious and forgiving, and for that I am grateful and humbled. I was elected for a period of two years and I intend to continue to serve all of the residents of my district — as I always have — until the end of my current term."