Just a few days ago, Karen Finney went on MSNBC and claimed that statements by three of the four GOP nominees and Rush Limbaugh yielded “lethal consequences” in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. There was no mistaking her attempt at the time to connect the allegedly racially-motivated killing to the GOP.
Later, Finney made a lame attempt to walk back her previous statements on Twitter. In response to a tweet that she’d attacked the GOP for the murder, she wrote:
of course that’s not at all what I said. My point is that stereotypes can be dangerous, as can promoting stereotypes
Notice how the topic is now “stereotypes” in general, not particular stereotypes attached to named members of the GOP. Finney was challenged on this, and her next response was even more disingenuous:
No said comments feed stereotypes, & praised them for speaking out on the shooting you don’t cover that tho
Perhaps Finney did credit someone later in the day, but in the clip referenced above, she criticized Mitt Romney for failing to comment, saying:
Mitt Romney says nothing at all; the effect is dangerous because they reinforce and validate old stereotypes…
In response to Finney’s attempts to generalize her previously pointed and specific statements about the GOP, a Twitter user from North Carolina pointed out the obvious:
But you were pointing that out in the broader context of “another black kid killed cuz of white-racist stereotype”
Finney’s response:
those are your words not mine.
So, according to former DNC spokesperson Karen Finney, her spotlight on three GOP presidential candidates (and one conservative radio host) was merely intended to show–in the most general way–that racial stereotypes come from all sides, left and right, white and black. You see, it’s only happenstance that all four of her examples were from the right and were broadcast on a channel that specializes in attacks on the right.
Uh-huh. Sure it was.
Headline image source: The Political Girl.
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