Simmering tensions over a monkey email sent by an Alabama legislator erupted into shouting match on the House floor.
A black lawmaker on Thursday night said a Republican legislator had offered only excuses, and not an apology, for the email
The email forwarded Wednesday by Republican Rep. Lynn Greer, of Rogersville, described an experiment showing how punished monkeys will eventually stop reaching for a dangling banana as they accept the status quo.
It was sent as African-American lawmakers used delaying tactics to fight legislative districts.
Rep. John Rogers, a black lawmaker from Birmingham shouted at Greer, “I’m not a monkey. … You are a damn monkey.”
Greer said the email was about the need to replace incumbents.
The tensions threatened to derail the last days of the legislative session.
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A white Alabama legislator has stirred outrage after sending an email that black lawmakers condemned as racist.
The email forwarded Wednesday by Republican Rep. Lynn Greer, of Rogersville, described an experiment showing how punished monkeys will eventually stop reaching for a dangling banana as they accept the status quo.
It was sent as African-American lawmakers used delaying tactics to fight legislative districts they said minimized black voters’ influence.
House Black Caucus Chairman John Knight called the email, “the most racial insult I’ve ever seen.”
The tensions in the statehouse threatened to derail the last days of the legislative session.
Greer says he apologized to the black caucus, and says he didn’t “mean anything bad.” He says the email meant all incumbents need to eventually be replaced.
Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Post copy of the e-mail and let citizens decide for themselves if it is offensive or not. Then move along…
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