5 Most Offensive Things Said This Week

Impact
ByKatie Halper

Here's a round up of some of this week's more homophobic, racist, mysoginist, sexist, and general insane rants. I apologize in advance to any bigots I've overlooked.

1. Standing By the N-Word, 100%!

When an NAACP official urged the Kansas Board of Education to ensure that students were learning about African American history, white board member Steve Roberts responded the way any of us would: by defending the use of the N-word. Addressing Ben Scott, the president of the Topeka NAACP, Roberts, an elected (Republican) board member, complained that school standards were "too politically correct," especially around the use of the slur. He lamented the falsity that New York City had banned the use of the “N-word.” Really, New York passed a non-binding resolution calling for a moratorium on the slur. He then pointed out that Martin Luther King Jr. himself had used the word in his Letter from Birmingham Jail. He wrapped up by saying:

“We have to push the frontiers of political correctness and do what's right ... And so, if I were to use it clinically, I would almost use a test to see what the effect on Twitter would be. ‘That Roberts guy said n*gger at the state school board meeting, and he said it as, it's probably the ugliest word in our vocabulary. It's an ugly repugnant absolutely horrific word that we should rise above... But I did get it out there ... and I appreciate the opportunity to do that in a politically correct setting.”

Scott, who later explained he was stunned, didn't register his discomfort at the time. But on Tuesday, a month after the initial incident, he returned to the Board to complain. Afterwards, Roberts told reporters he stood by his use of the word "100%": “I did my best to say the ‘N-word’ clinically ... I’m willing to be considered politically incorrect ... I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

He also said, “One reason I brought it up was because it actually was the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail,' which is one of the greatest documents I've ever read, and he used [the n-word] twice.”

I'm sure Dr. King would be honored.

2. Legalized Abortions Are Responsible For School Shootings

Speaking at a commencement address at the University of Mary, Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said, "Forty years ago, the United States Supreme Court sanctioned abortion on demand. And we wonder why our culture sees school shootings so often."

I guess this language is fairly tame for Cramer, who is reported to have said he wanted to "ring the Tribal council’s neck and slam them against the wall," during a conversation with Native American victim assistance leaders in a conversation about the Violence Against Women Act.

3. If Your Husband Cheats On You...

When a woman wrote into Pat Robertson asking him how she could forgive her husband who had cheated on her, the televangelist said,

“Does he provide a home for you to live in, does he provide food for you to eat, does he provide clothes for you to wear, is he nice to the children … is he handsome? ... give him honor instead of trying to worry about it ... But recognize also, like it or not, males have a tendency to wander a little bit and what you want to do is make a home so wonderful that he doesn’t want to wander ... What you have to do is say, ‘My husband was captured and I want to get him free ... Begin to thank God that you have a marriage that is together and that you live in America and good things are happening.”

4. Mayor: Sex Slaves Were Necessary

This is what Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto had to say about so-called "comfort women," a euphemism for the 200,000 women forced into sexual slavery in Japanese Army brothels before and during World War II: "Anyone can understand that the system of comfort women was necessary to provide respite for high-strung, rough and tumble crowd of men risking their lives under a storm of bullets ... At the time, it was a necessary system to maintain military discipline."

5. You, Sir, Are a C*nt, Bitch, Coward

Failed Dallas City Council candidate Richard P. Sheridan was angry that a reporter hadn't sufficiently informed voters that one of his opponents was gay. So, over the weekend, Sheridan left Dan Koller of D Magazine a voicemail, saying he was "extremely happy" that "Sodomite" Leland Burk lost to Jennifer Staubach Gates. He said:

“You know, you didn’t post the fact, communicate to voters that he’s gay, and I think I did a pretty good job of communicating to voters... You, sir, are c*nt, bitch, coward, Mr. Koller. Dan Koller is a c*nt, bitch, coward. And I don’t think you have one testicle, sir. You’re a sorry-ass, you’re a disgrace to our city, you’re a propagandist to the Sodomites.

And when I see you, I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but minimally your eardrums will hurt, you motherfucker. Because the word f*ck means abuse and if you’re in the gay lifestyle, the mothers that bring their children up in the world, wanting to do good, want to live a good life, and you go with the Sodomites? You motherf*cker, c*nt, coward Dan Koller.”

To top off his rant, Wednesday, Sheridan showed up at City Hall and distributed flyers which distorted a Dallas Voice’s cover showing the three openly gay City Council candidates this year, with X’s through their faces and 6′s on their foreheads.

“God’s voice was heard in Dallas Saturday. No openly gay LGBT City Councilmember!!” the flier reads. All three gay candidates lost their races. They may not have won the election, but they did better than Sheridan, who received a commendable 28 votes.