Report: Corey Stewart aide compared GOP establishment to a 'house negro,' trashed civil rights icons online

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.

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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.