Roy Moore, the Republican Alabama Senate candidate and alleged sexual predator endorsed by President Donald Trump, said America was great during an era when families cared for one another the same era when Black people were sold, enslaved and hanged.
A tweet that went viral on Thursday pointed out a comment Moore made at a rally in Florence, Ala., in September. One of the only Black people in the audience asked the candidate when he thought America was “last great.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Moore acknowledged the nation’s history of racial divisions, but said: ‘I think it was great at the time when families were united even though we had slavery they cared for one another. Our families were strong, our country had a direction.'”
Moore also peppered his speech with racial insults referring to Native Americans and Asian Americans as “reds and yellows.”
Eric Columbus, a former Obama administration official, posted the following tweet on Thursday, which caused the stir on Twitter:
Can’t make this up — Roy Moore said in September that the last time America was great was when we had slavery. (h/t @reckonalabama)https://t.co/NMF4BCQ6ZS pic.twitter.com/XbpPtdifuS
Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) December 7, 2017
A Twitter user replied:
This is what people new to Moore don’t understand: he’s a cultural revanchist: stuck in about 1840, believes in Calhoun-era nullification doctrine & denies incorporation of civil rights through 14th A. Rides a horse to the polling station. Thinks dating a 14-year old is normal.
Nathan Ryan (@NathanARyan) December 7, 2017
Bernice A. King, CEO of The King Center and daughter of slain civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, tweeted:
Greatness will NEVER include slavery. This is violent, inhumane thinking. And it is appalling to think, let alone express. #RoyMoore https://t.co/PTbaizQCfW
Be A King (@BerniceKing) December 7, 2017
Last month, Moore gave a speech at Walker Springs Road Baptist Church in Jackson, Ala. He said the “new rights” supported by the Supreme Court in 1965 caused today’s problems and did not clearly explain which “rights” he was referring to.
Moore did not explain whether he was referring to landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 or a more obscure SCOTUS ruling on school prayer.
“By 1962, the United States Supreme Court took prayer out of school,” he said. “Then they started to create new rights in 1965, and now, today, we’ve got a problem.”
The landmark civil rights act of 1965 was the Voting Rights Act, signed into law that year. Alabama was not in support of voting rights for Blacks. In Selma, on March 7, 1965, state troopers attacked about 600 nonviolent demonstrators who were protesting voter suppression and police brutality as they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The day of violence became known as Bloody Sunday.
Even though Moore made the racist comments in September, and it certainly wasn’t the first time he’s made comments like that, he still won the Republican primary. And even though Moore has been accused by multiple women of pursuing them in their teens, one reportedly as young as 14, when he was in his 30s, he is supported by the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Noteworthy company MassMutual, the nation’s largest life insurance company, is rethinking future donations to the RNC in light of the party’s decision to bankroll the Moore’s campaign.
On Thursday, many Twitter users pleaded with Alabama voters not to elect Moore on Dec. 12:
African-American voters in Alabama need to know that Roy Moore said that the last time America was great was during slavery(!!).
Unbelievable. This man cannot become a U.S. Senator. https://t.co/QsAEapMhKA
Augustus709 (@Augustus709) December 7, 2017
#Alabama, is this the image you want Roy Moore admitted in September that he doesn’t know what the DREAM act is, and said America was last “great” during slavery. REALLY Unqualified! #alsen #RoyMoore #NoMoore #RollTide #WarEagle #AlabamaSenateRace #ThursdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/ts4FfCFWXX
THE Princess (@TheSWPrincess) December 7, 2017
