After presidential candidate Ben Carson recently said it was fine with him if people flew the Confederate flag on private property, conservative website Campus Reform reported that Goldie Taylor tweeted a simple “Gosh” along with a link to the story. In reply to Taylor, University of Pennsylvania Professor Anthea Butler tweeted, “If only there was a ‘coon of the year’ award…”
It’s a shame that Hillary Clinton is too shy to share the emails detailing her yoga routines, so we’ll have to make due with Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher twisting himself into pretzels to explain that conservatives completely misinterpreted Butler’s tweet.
Conservatives had fun putting "coon" in their headlines, now they can find out what it means http://t.co/APDkGi6wFI #p2 #tcot
— Tommy X-TrumpIsARacist-opher (@tommyxtopher) October 7, 2015
Ivy League Professor Didn't Actually Call Ben Carson 'Coon of the Year' http://t.co/xg0BZ9F6rD (By @tommyxtopher) pic.twitter.com/zaZoYUiRmw
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) October 7, 2015
@Mediaite @tommyxtopher she didn't? That's what it looked like
— Aaron Seitsinger (@AaronSeitsinger) October 7, 2015
No, she didn’t, says Christopher, who explains that “if you want to interpret Professor Butler’s tweet that way, you’re welcome to do so, but to state that interpretation as fact is just plain wrong. In fact, maybe you’re the racist for reading that tweet and assuming that she meant Ben Carson is a ‘coon.’ There’s another much more relevant interpretation to be made.”
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And that is? Well, you see, whites and blacks have a completely different interpretation of the word, which most conservative sites described as “racist” and “offensive.” If you want to uncover the real definition, you need to consult the experts at — we’re not making this up — Coonwatch.com, which lists, watches and tracks “those who live by the coon code of conduct,” such as Carson.
“The term doesn’t have universal currency within the black community,” explains Christopher, “but it is universally understood. It’s intended to be provocative, offensive, and even insulting, but it’s not a racist term.” One caveat: “… it’s still racist when white people say it.”
https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/651854572634423296
@BecketAdams that person is gonna hurt themselves bending over backwards like that.
— Katie "Red Pickle" Jerkovich (@redsoutrage) October 7, 2015
@BecketAdams Tell me it's not Tommy Christopher.
— l?l (@laura_lrnzo) October 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/651857467727589376
https://twitter.com/warnerthuston/status/651859894111440897
@BecketAdams Gee, I wonder what they'd say if a black conservative would use the term about Obama.
— AgainstTrumpDude (@TheAmishDude) October 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/CHBilhorn/status/651855311079387136
We think it’s safe to say that Christopher taught all of us something today.
@BecketAdams there's a website called coonwatch???
— FrogDoc (@TueborFrog) October 7, 2015
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