‘I had a Black friend’: Lawmaker’s tone deaf tweet on racism gets blasted on Twitter

Republican lawmaker Patricia Morgan is at the centre of a controversy after she tweeted that she had lost a Black friend due to critical race theory.

In a tweet on Tuesday, the Rhode Island state representative said: “I had a black friend. I liked her and I think she liked me, too. But now she is hostile and unpleasant.”

“I am sure I didn’t do anything to her, except be white. Is that what teachers and our political leaders really want for our society? Divide us because of our skin color? #CRT” she added.

Ms Morgan’s post drew the ire of several social media users who called out the Republican and said her tweet was tone deaf.

The hashtag #Ihadablackfriend was trending on the social media platform with over a hundred tweets.

“I had a black friend”. Singular. Not multiple. One,” said one user, who gave a rebuttal to Ms Morgan’s tweet.

“There are obvious chunks of the story missing here,” wrote another user.

“CRT is about learning actual history and why people have an advantage for having white skin. None of my friends are asking me to hate myself. That’s not the issue. They want me to be aware/learn & do what I can to help.”

“Politician who sponsored a bill to ban teachers from teaching about America’s history of racism thinks her Black friend doesn’t like her because she’s white,” wrote human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid.

“The astounding & perpetual right wing politician need to be a victim while actively harming others,” he added.

In May, Ms Morgan had cosponsored a bill that would have banned teaching critical race theory in public schools.

The bill prohibited the “teaching of divisive concepts” as well as mandating that “any contract, grant or training entered into by state or municipality include provisions prohibiting divisive concepts and prohibit making individual feel distress on account of their race or sex.”

While the bill failed to be passed, similar legislations were also introduced in a dozen other states including Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, reported USA Today.

Speaking to The Daily Beast, Ms Morgan said that her association with the bill cost her her friendship.

“We fought these battles already against discrimination and against segregation [for] Martin Luther King’s goals for us to judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin,” Ms Morgan said.

“[Critical race theory] shuts down conversations about other reasons for disparities and other ways that we could work to change those disparities.”

She added that she was sad that she lost a friend, without identifying the person in question.

“I’m sad that she doesn’t feel like she’s my friend anymore.”

“I know that she has become a real proponent of racial identity politics. And I’m pretty sure that’s the reason behind it. I’m sad that our country is going down that road. I think it’s bad for our country.”