GOP chairman in Alabama explains Ku Klux Klan imagery post
It was all a big mistake say the party as a “deep and sincere apology” is issued after a Google image search goes wrong.
The incident has caused a bit of a stir, and one that the Republican party is trying to quickly put behind them. Here’s what happened, as reported via The Hill...
KKK elephant from Google image search used
The Lawrence County Republican Party Facebook page was the platform in question as a message was posted on Sunday thanking the group’s former chairman while welcoming Shanon Terry, the incoming chairman. Innocent enough, you’d say, and indeed it was except for the Woody Harrington image used with it, one of the well-known GOP elephant but with the white spaces between the elephant’s legs used to create the shape of hooded figures. This had been originally seen in a Mother Jones article which was “about the hate, bigotry and racism hidden within Trump’s GOP.”
The group’s post was then shared on Twitter by Anthony Daniels, the Alabama House minority leader, who later called it “disgusting”.. Of course the post was taken down and replaced with the another elephant image once it had been called out and some critics have even suggested the new chairman should resign from the county’s school board. The apologies came quickly.
“I would like to offer a deep and sincere apology for a picture that temporarily appeared on this page last night,” Terry said, explaining that “a Google search picture of a GOP elephant was used and later found to have hidden images that do not represent the views or beliefs of the Lawrence County Republican Party.
“The picture was then immediately replaced. As chairman I take full responsibility for the error.”
Full responsibility, maybe, but Terry also made a statement regarding the calls to resign and further explaining his error of judgement.
“The voters of District Four elected me to represent them and I am proud of the accomplishments of this administration over the past six years. I look forward to continuing to strive to give every student in Lawrence County the best opportunity to be successful.
“The image posted by me on a political Facebook page was not done with any malicious or harmful intent. Once made aware of the negative portion of the picture I immediately replaced it and followed up with an apology/explanation the next day. My error was rushing to post a thank you note to the outgoing chairperson, in doing so I did not properly review a cut and paste image used in that post from an internet search for a ‘GOP elephant’. I do not support or agree with any hate group agenda and certainly would not try to further their cause.”
As reported by Kaitlin Kanable, the Lawrence County NAACP has scheduled a Friday press conference about the incident, where they may call for Terry’s resignation.