Twitter lights up after GOP account implies racism is over
The Republican National Committee’s tweet was meant to honor Rosa Parks. It said she had “a role in ending racism.” With that, a hashtag was born.
Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in ending racism. pic.twitter.com/uxIj1QmtkU
— RNC (@GOP) December 1, 2013
Most likely, the social media team figured a tweet honoring a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement on the 55th anniversary of her refusing to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Ala., wouldn’t ruffle all that many feathers. But the specific wording of the tweet, the notion that Parks had a part in “ending racism,” set off some alarm bells. “Unfortunately racism still very much exists,” columnist Connor Simpson wrote at The Wire. “In fact, racism exists within the Republican party.”
Rather than delete the tweet, the @GOP account offered this clarification:
Previous tweet should have read “Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in fighting to end racism.”
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