In Facebook Posts, Congressman Aaron Schock’s Press Secretary Compared African Americans To Zoo Animals

[Potoooooooo]

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/02/05/3619395/aaron-schock-communications-racist/

In a series of Facebook posts obtained by ThinkProgress, the senior adviser for policy and communications to Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) posted racial comments and endorsed gentrification of his neighborhood.

Benjamin Cole, a former Baptist pastor and energy industry spokesman, posted a series of videos and comments on October 13, 2013 mocking two African Americans outside his DC apartment. In the first, he compared them to animals escaping from the National Zoo engaged in “mating rituals.” That message included a video of a woman, shouting and seemingly engaged in an argument with someone not visible as she walked. In each of his posts, he used the hashtag “#gentrifytoday.”

 

[Nexus]

I hate to defend this guy but this isn't racism. If she is having a shouting argument with no one then she's probably mentally ill. So he is comparing mentally ill people to zoo animals. That's not dignified for a press secretary or any adult for that matter but its not racism.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

I hate to defend this guy but this isn't racism. If she is having a shouting argument with no one then she's probably mentally ill. So he is comparing mentally ill people to zoo animals. That's not dignified for a press secretary or any adult for that matter but its not racism.

Not necessarily.

If he has a pattern of behavior (which it appears he does) of berating black people and calling for the removal of black people, then it begs the question, would he have posted this incident had the woman been white? And keep in mind, hating on a person for her disability doesn't mean you can't hate on her for her race at the same time. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Here is the passage from the article

Benjamin Cole, a former Baptist pastor and energy industry spokesman, posted a series of videos and comments on October 13, 2013 mocking two African Americans outside his DC apartment. In the first, he compared them to animals escaping from the National Zoo engaged in “mating rituals.” That message included a video of a woman, shouting and seemingly engaged in an argument with someone not visible as she walked. In each of his posts, he used the hashtag “#gentrifytoday.”

Not sure if the person was imaginary or simply not in the shot.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I've always thought that African Americans were better off in zoo than running around in the wild with all the dangerous policemen and the like about.