“Uncle Thomas?” That’s where we are in the 21st century?
A Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota criticized Tuesday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act by calling Justice Clarence Thomas “Uncle Thomas,” then saying he didn’t know “Uncle Tom” was a racist epithet.
On his Twitter account Tuesday, state Rep. Ryan Winkler called the justices’ 5-4 ruling striking down a part of the law racist, and the work of “four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas.” Justice Thomas, who is black, was one of the five justices in the majority.
That tweet was quickly deleted, and Mr. Winkler, who is white and represents some upper middle class suburbs west-southwest of Minneapolis, offered a conditional-tense quasi-apology in subsequent tweets.
If Paula Deen should lose her livelihood over racial slurs, then racist Rep. Ryan Winkler should resign and his Democrat party should denounce him immediately.
Update: Rep. Winkler is claiming that he didn’t know “Uncle Thomas” is a racist term. Even though it’s derived from the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and he has a degree from Harvard.
If it’s really true that Winkler doesn’t know the history of “Uncle Tom,” then why did he deploy it against the only black justice who voted to strike down part of the Voting Rights Act, and among other things, what does it say about the quality of a Harvard education?
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