A Cub Scout in Colorado was kicked out of his den, allegedly for asking pointed questions to a state senator during a meeting organized by the Boy Scouts, The Denver Post reported.
On Oct., 9, Ames Mayfield, 11, a fifth-grader and a Scout for five years, asked Colorado Sen. Vicki Marble questions about gun control and about comments she made about the mortality rates among black people at a 2013 legislative meeting.
The boy’s mother, Lori Mayfield, on Wednesday claimed that Ames was kicked out of his den as a result.
“He is still kind of reeling from this,” Mayfield said. “He is really sensitive, my heart breaks for him.”
Ames’ questions, and other Scouts’ questions, were recorded and posted on YouTube by Mayfield in a video titled “Vicki Marble denies chicken-gate.”
“I was astonished that you blamed black people for poor health and poverty because of all the chicken and barbecue they eat,” Ames said to Marble at the Scout meeting.
“I didn’t, that was made up by the media,” Marble said. “So, you want to believe it? You believe it. But that’s not how it went down. I didn’t do that. That was false. Get both sides of the story.”
According to the Post, in 2013 Marble said: "When you look at life expectancy, there are problems in the black race. Sickle-cell anemia is something that comes up. Diabetes is something that's prevalent in the genetic makeup, and you just can't help it.
“Although I’ve got to say,” she said, “I’ve never had better barbecue and better chicken and ate better in my life than when you go down South and you, I mean, I love it. Everybody loves it.”
On Oct. 9, Marble responded, in part, to Ames’ question: “We have multicultural foods in the United States and we are very blessed to have it. And we all love it and we all eat it. And we just better figure out our genetics.”
Marble also told the Scouts that she is from a multi-ethnic background that includes “black, Mexican … Jew … Native American” and the “lousy Irish!” the Post reported.
“Decisions about who is in or out of a den are internal organizational matters that I won’t second guess,” Marble said Wednesday night in an email to The Post. “I don’t blame the boy for asking the questions, since I believe there was an element of manipulation involved, and it wasn’t much different from the questions I normally field in other meetings. The invitation to meet with the Scouts was never intended to cause friction and controversy.”
A den leader was upset by Ames’ line of questioning, Lori Mayfield said. She is looking for a new den for Ames to join.
“I felt my son followed directions. He asked hard questions, but he was not disrespectful,” she said.
Other Scouts asked Marble about the border wall, fossil fuels, and voting for President Barack Obama. No other Scout was dismissed from the den, Mayfield said.
Nicole Cosme, marketing director of the Boy Scouts of America Denver Area Council, told the Post that Ames was offered membership in other dens.
“We would like Ames to stay in Cub Scouts and become a Boy Scout,” she told the Post.
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