A Rhode Island state representative borrowed a line from the racist’s manifesto and cited her alleged experience with a singular Black friend in explaining why she disapproves of critical race theory. “I had a black friend. I liked her and I think she liked me, too. But now she is hostile and unpleasant. I am sure I didn’t do anything to her, except be white,” Republican Patricia Morgan tweeted on Tuesday. “Is that what teachers and our political leaders really want for our society? Divide us because of our skin color? #CRT”
Of course, Twitter users had a field day with the assertion that it’s nearly impossible for Morgan’s actual actions to have prompted the rift in her relationship. “My favorite part of this tweet is ‘a,’” Patrick Claybon, a news anchor for NFL Media, tweeted. Morgan’s tweet was quoted more than 8,990 times and retweeted more than 500 times.
“If you don’t believe in judging others by their skin color, then how come you assumed your former friend has a problem with you because you’re white?” writer Jelena Woehr asked. “If she was white would you think that?”
Rhode Island Sen. Tiara Mack claimed to be the Black friend in a tweet on Tuesday, but she later explained that she has never met Morgan. The white lawmaker had called her “arrogance” at refusing to restart student loan payments “disgusting” in an earlier tweet.
Twitter users said they wouldn’t be surprised if the Black friend Morgan referenced didn’t actually exist.
Portia McGonagal, who identifies as a Black corporate America survivor, tweeted in response to Morgan: “Sweetie, you might think you claimed her as a friend. She never claimed you. There was something she read in you that said she couldn’t actually have a real conversation with you about race. Know how I know? Been Black in predominantly white spaces all my life. We know you.”
She added in a thread:
Morgan told the Boston Globe that the response to her tweet is further proof of the “insidious nature of critical race theory.”
“Twitter is a cesspool anyway,” she said. The lawmaker sponsored a failed bill last year that would tie the hands of teachers intending to educate students on the history of racism in America. Earlier this year, she called critical race theory a “destructive, divisive ideology” earlier this year. She told the Globe she defines the theory as an attempt to judge people by race and ethnicity and not as individuals. “It is using the worst kinds of racial stereotypes on people in our society,” Morgan said.
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The theory is a framework for interpreting the law that maintains racism has an undeniable effect on the legal foundation of American society, and it would be pretty exclusively confined to law schools if not for Republicans redefining it to mean anything that reveals the truth of racism or prejudice in America. Their push has been to ban that redefinition in classrooms, which has often translated to watering down the already bland representation of cultural and racial histories in K-12 history instruction.
As a child, ‘Star Trek’ actor and Japanese-American activist George Takei was forced to move with his family from their home in southern California to a Japanese internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. He tweeted in response to Morgan: “I had a white friend. I liked him and I think he liked me, too. But then Pearl Harbor happened and whites became hostile and unpleasant. I am sure we didn’t do anything but they sent us to camps anyway. And now they don’t want to teach about this because it make kids feel bad.”
The Black Lives Matter Rhode Island Political Action Committee (PAC) is seeking the removal of Morgan from House environmental, health, labor, and housing committees. “Anything less than these substantive actions is another tacit acceptance of racism from the General Assembly that can no longer be tolerated,” the PAC tweeted.
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Of course, Twitter users had a field day with the assertion that it’s nearly impossible for Morgan’s actual actions to have prompted the rift in her relationship. “My favorite part of this tweet is ‘a,’” Patrick Claybon, a news anchor for NFL Media, tweeted. Morgan’s tweet was quoted more than 8,990 times and retweeted more than 500 times.
“If you don’t believe in judging others by their skin color, then how come you assumed your former friend has a problem with you because you’re white?” writer Jelena Woehr asked. “If she was white would you think that?”
Rhode Island Sen. Tiara Mack claimed to be the Black friend in a tweet on Tuesday, but she later explained that she has never met Morgan. The white lawmaker had called her “arrogance” at refusing to restart student loan payments “disgusting” in an earlier tweet.
Twitter users said they wouldn’t be surprised if the Black friend Morgan referenced didn’t actually exist.
Portia McGonagal, who identifies as a Black corporate America survivor, tweeted in response to Morgan: “Sweetie, you might think you claimed her as a friend. She never claimed you. There was something she read in you that said she couldn’t actually have a real conversation with you about race. Know how I know? Been Black in predominantly white spaces all my life. We know you.”
She added in a thread:
Morgan told the Boston Globe that the response to her tweet is further proof of the “insidious nature of critical race theory.”
“Twitter is a cesspool anyway,” she said. The lawmaker sponsored a failed bill last year that would tie the hands of teachers intending to educate students on the history of racism in America. Earlier this year, she called critical race theory a “destructive, divisive ideology” earlier this year. She told the Globe she defines the theory as an attempt to judge people by race and ethnicity and not as individuals. “It is using the worst kinds of racial stereotypes on people in our society,” Morgan said.
YouTube Video
The theory is a framework for interpreting the law that maintains racism has an undeniable effect on the legal foundation of American society, and it would be pretty exclusively confined to law schools if not for Republicans redefining it to mean anything that reveals the truth of racism or prejudice in America. Their push has been to ban that redefinition in classrooms, which has often translated to watering down the already bland representation of cultural and racial histories in K-12 history instruction.
As a child, ‘Star Trek’ actor and Japanese-American activist George Takei was forced to move with his family from their home in southern California to a Japanese internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. He tweeted in response to Morgan: “I had a white friend. I liked him and I think he liked me, too. But then Pearl Harbor happened and whites became hostile and unpleasant. I am sure we didn’t do anything but they sent us to camps anyway. And now they don’t want to teach about this because it make kids feel bad.”
The Black Lives Matter Rhode Island Political Action Committee (PAC) is seeking the removal of Morgan from House environmental, health, labor, and housing committees. “Anything less than these substantive actions is another tacit acceptance of racism from the General Assembly that can no longer be tolerated,” the PAC tweeted.
YouTube Video