Arizona's only black legislators chastised after race talk

[WhiteTara]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/arizonas-only-black-legislators-chastised-race-talk-015146409--politics.html

PHOENIX (AP) — The only two black members of the Arizona Legislature were formally chastised for speaking out against a Republican lawmaker's published column, which included a racial slur and they say derided black activists while attempting to discredit leaders of a teacher group protesting for better pay.

Rep. Maria Syms wrote in a column published in the Arizona Republic that the two best-known leaders of the #RedforEd movement are "political operatives" who are radicalizing Arizona youth. She called Noah Karvelis' classroom "exotic" and said he prides himself on teaching students music from the hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar. Syms included a lyric from the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist that included a derogatory term for African-Americans.

Democratic Rep. Reginald Bolding, who is black, said he was offended by the language she used.

"This article attempts to discredit this teacher because he may have introduced lyrics in the classroom written by a black entertainer," Bolding said. "This article attempts to discredit this teacher because he 'takes inspiration' from a black civil rights activist. This article attempts to discredit this teacher because he 'admires' a professor that taught at a historically black college for women.

"The more I read the more I was disappointed that it appears to be OK to use a racial slur about black people in the article," Bolding continued. "Let me be crystal clear: It's not acceptable to us a racial slur even if that slur is used as a quote."

I am livid. Rep. Maria Syms needs phone calls and letters and emails and fb posts and twitters and maybe even letters in the mail. Representatives Bolding and Peten also need letters of support and encouragement. How terrible this is for them.