Kentucky State Rep. Jennifer Decker (R-Waddy) made an idiotic statement at an NAACP meeting several weeks ago. When asked if her family had played any role in the slave trade, Decker equated her father's very hard job to that of slavery.
Ironically, Decker has worked to eliminate the very education programs that would have helped her understand how insensitive and ignorant her remark is.
"My father was born on a dirt farm in Lincoln County," said Decker, a 68-year-old attorney. "His mother was the illegitimate daughter of a very prominent person who then was kind enough to allow them to work for him as slaves. So, if you're asking, did we own slaves? My father was a slave, just to a white man and he was white."
Decker's father was a white preacher born sometime around 1933, which was 68 years after the 13th Amendment ended slavery.
"It was a moment that, in many ways, proved how badly diversity, equity and inclusion programs – this year's chosen bogeyman of Kentucky's right-wing politicians – are needed in Kentucky's schools," wrote columnist Joseph Gerth.
"Such diversity programs weren't around when Decker was in school," Gerth added. "If they had been, she might have learned that few white people in America, short of those who have been trafficked for sex, should ever claim something like that. It's deeply offensive to those who are descendants of actual slaves to hear a white person claim that they are a descendent of a slave."
RawStory
Naturally, Decker ignored questions about her insensitive comments and blamed people who sought to understand whether she was mean or just ignorant.
