A former Pennsylvania university advisor and local restaurateur has issued a public apology after video of him repeatedly using racist language made the rounds online.
Jonathan Spanos asked community members in York County for forgiveness on Wednesday while admitting he was “humiliated and embarrassed” by the way he handled a roadside confrontation over the weekend, in which he insulted another man as having a “half n-word brother.”
This is Jonathan Spanos owner of the Paddock on Market in York, PA. Advisory Board member for Penn State York. Gets in a road rage incident, commits assault and then starts yelling the N word out in public. What a despicable person @ydrcom @YorkDispatch @PennStateYork pic.twitter.com/8CTegeHhaF
— YorkpaRacist (@YorkPaRacist) November 10, 2024
During the argument, Spanos — after being told he’s being filmed by an onlooker — defiantly said, “I am, I am a racist.”
Spanos had been an member of the Penn State York Advisory Board before resigning from his position on Monday under heavy criticism, reported the York Daily Record. He had endowed a scholarship to the school under his family name and been a commencement speaker for 2014’s graduating class, according to local NBC affiliate WJAC.
“To members of my community who are Black and brown, I want to say how truly sorry I am for my language and my behavior,” Spanos said Wednesday.
Spanos vowed he was committed to trying to resolve whatever issues motivated him to engage in hate speech. He claimed his taped admission of bigotry was made “sarcastically,” but community leaders he’s since spoken with encouraged him to do some soul searching.
“While I have never believed myself to be a racist, I was reminded by the pastors that the mouth speaks what flows from the heart,” Spanos said.
It’s not clear what prompted the dispute in which Spanos lost his temper. He called the spat “a heated family confrontation” where he “repeatedly used the n-word to inflict pain on another person.”
In a statement sent to WJAC, Penn State York said Spanos’s “hateful language” was not reflective of the school or the community. The university announced Tuesday he was no longer on its advisory board.
The York County NAACP urged school officials to conduct a review of its remaining advisory board members “to ensure they embody the university’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.”
In addition to his involvement in academia, Spanos co-owns a popular seafood eatery called Paddock on Market, according to the York Daily Record. Posts on the restaurant’s Yelp page have been temporarily disabled due to a sudden influx of reviews related to “increased public attention” the business is getting.
