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John Murtha apologizes for calling rednecks racist....

The news comes one week after Murtha claimed the area is racist, then apologized for that comment.In explaining his comments about racism, Murtha, D-Johnstown, told WTAE Channel 4 Action News on Monday it's difficult for many in the area to change.

Murtha said that just five to 10 years ago the entire area was "redneck."Now Murtha said only certain segments of the population are holding on to those racist feelings.Just days after classifying western Pennsylvania as racist, Murtha took a step back from those comments, albeit a small one."What I said, that indicted everybody, that's not what I meant at all. What I mean is there's still folks that have a problem voting for someone because they are black," Murtha said.Murtha said the history of southwestern Pennsylvania is rife with racism."This whole area, years ago, was really redneck," Murtha told Channel 4 Action News.

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