Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
I’m sure Ibram X. Kendi is shook right now.
The author of “How to Be an Antiracist” probably assumed that the premise of his wildly successful book would go unchallenged. After all, even Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump and the white ventriloquist manipulating the mouth of the Jason Whitlock marionette would say that they don’t have a “racist bone in their body” (to be fair, the Whitlock puppet appears to be stuffed with of souse meat, silly putty and pistachio-flavored Jello pudding). What kind of person is for racism?
Tennessee Republicans that’s who.
The Tennessee Holler (which is not a synonym for a “rebel yell”) recently released a recording of members of the state’s GOP leadership discussing their recent decision to oust two Black legislators from the House of Representatives. In the leaked audio, the lawmakers reprimanded their fellow Republicans for not standing with their conservative counterparts while lamenting the fact that they were being labeled as racists just because they did something racist.
“I have never had anybody call me a racist,” said Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville), who once complained about people calling him a racist (to be fair, it was way back in February 2023. “For the last three days, all I have heard from them is how this is the most racist place. One of them said ‘white supremacist.’ Good Lord!”
While the Good Lord did not respond to theGrio’s request for comment, Zachary makes a good point. Why would anyone call a place built with slave labor and prominently displayed a bust of a Ku Klux Klan’s first Grand…
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