Valerie Jarrett responds to Roseanne's racist tweet: 'We have to turn it into a teaching moment'

Valerie Jarrett.
(Image credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

In response to Roseanne Barr's racist tweet about her, Valerie Jarrett said she hopes that it can be used as a "teaching moment."

"I think we have to turn it into a teaching moment," Jarrett said. "I'm fine. I'm worried about all the people out there who don't have a circle of friends and followers who come right to their defense. The person who's walking down the street, minding their own business, and they see somebody cling to their purse or wanna cross the street, or every black parent I know who has a boy who has to sit down and have a conversation, 'The Talk,' as we call it." Jarrett said Disney President Bob Iger told her Roseanne was being canceled before it was publicly announced, and she supports the decision.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.