A spokesman for Corey Stewart, Republican nominee for Senate in Virginia, had a lot to say on Facebook and Twitter about Democratic Rep. John Lewis ("#PompousAss"), civil rights icon Rosa Parks ("give me a effing break"), and black leaders (they are afraid of "being labeled an #UncleTom #Oreo #HouseNegro"), CNN reports.
CNN's KFile found these inflammatory social media posts by Rick Shaftan, who did not respond to a request for comment, dating back to 2014. In October of that year, Shaftan tweeted, "There are a lot of parallels between the 'House Negro' and the GOP Establishment." In September 2017, KFile reports, Shaftan wrote on Facebook that "Black 'leaders' are working overtime to isolate 'the community' from everyone who isn't Black. And almost no black people will say anything for fear of being labeled an #UncleTom #Oreo #HouseNegro."
Shaftan also reportedly took shots at Parks and Lewis, tweeting in September 2015: "Rosa Parks. Give me a effing break. How about PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY?" Schlafly was a (white) conservative activist. In January 2017, he asked, "So what has John Lewis done besides get beat up 50+ years ago. #PompousAss." In 1965, Lewis was beaten while marching for voting rights in Alabama. You can read more of Shaftan's posts at CNN.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
‘The trickle of shutdowns could soon become a flood’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Wikipedia: Is ‘neutrality’ still possible?Feature Wikipedia struggles to stay neutral as conservatives accuse the site of being left-leaning
-
A House of Dynamite, After the Hunt, and It Was Just an AccidentFeature A nuclear missile bears down on a U.S. city, a sexual misconduct allegation rocks an elite university campus, and a victim of government terror pursues vengeance
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
