Jamilah Lemieux, the digital editor for Ebony Magazine, sparked outrage among right- wingers when an argument on Twitter led her to call Raffi Williams, the deputy press secretary for the Republican National Committee, a “white dude.”
Williams is actually Black.
It all started when Lemieux sent out a cheeky tweet saying she wish she knew less about Dr. Ben Carson and Armstrong Williams’ new magazine project targeting Black conservatives.
Williams then responded to the tweet saying, “Wish you knew less? hoped [sic] you would encourage diversity of thought.”
Lemieux’s next tweet is what sparked conservative outrage.
“Oh great, here comes a White dude telling me how to do this Black thing. Pass,” she responded.
Other conservatives quickly came to Williams’ defense, calling Lemieux’s tweet “sickening.”
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus even wrote a letter to Ebony requesting an apology from Lemieux for “making assumptions about his race but more important dismissing black Republicans and the validity of their opinions in public discourse.”
Lemieux explained that the tweet was a result of misidentification, rather than attempting to label a Black man as white for simply being a conservative.
She later apologized for the mix-up, but reminded her critics that she wasn’t concerned about their opinions.
“I was looking at your avi without blowing it up,” she explained. “I apologize for that. However, I care about NOTHING you have to say.”
Despite Lemieux’s clear stance on the subject, Ebony issued an apology and condemned the digital editor for the tweet.
“Nearly 70 years ago the magazine began on the principle that, as Black people, we are all somebody – we all count,” the statement on Ebony’s website read. “Yesterday the spirit of this mission was disregarded by EBONY.com Senior Editor Jamilah Lemieux in a personal Twitter exchange between herself and RNC Deputy Press Secretary Raffi Williams.”
The statement went on to “acknowledge Senior Editor Jamilah Lemieux’s lack of judgment on her personal Twitter account” and apologized to Williams along with the rest of the “Black Republican community.”
On Saturday Williams along with his father, liberal political analyst Juan Williams, appeared on Fox and Friends where they tackled what they considered to be the mistreatment of Black conservatives.
“There is, among liberals, this idea that if you are a Black person and you don’t fit into the liberal orthodoxy, liberal way of thinking as they have predetermined, then – it’s free to call you a roach…or, you know, an Uncle Tom, a traitor,” Juan Williams told the show’s host Tucker Carlson.
Meanwhile, the debate continues on social media with some Twitter users defending Lemieux while others claimed they were “disappointed” with the way the editor “handled a very sensitive situation.”
