Democratic activist lawyer, Andrew Barovick, resigned his leadership position with the New York City Bar Association after tweeting racist comments about Chemung County Sheriff Christopher Moss, a Black Republican.
Barovick tweeted on election night, “In light of election loss, [Sheriff Moss] mulling offers to be new spokes model for either Cream of Wheat or Uncle Ben’s rice.” Both products prominently and controversially use Black caricatures as their logos.
Barovick’s tweet resulted in a public outcry: On Nov. 5, the day after the election, Westchester Citizens Against Racism, a group led by New Rochelle attorney Richard St. Paul, demanded that Barovick be removed from any professional leadership positions he held.
Barovick was chairman of bar association’s Medical Malpractice Committee. He resigned from the position on Tuesday.
“As you know, I made a grave mistake by attempting to use humor to personally convey my frustration with the New York Republican Party through a tweet that upset a great number of people,” he wrote in his resignation letter.
Bill O’Reilly, a spokesman for St. Paul’s organization who has been having intense conversations with Barovick since the initial tweet, said they would not push the incident any further.
“His resignation is belated but sufficient,” O’Reilly said. “Time to move on.”
O’ Reilly added that Westchester Citizens Against Racism plans to stay together to defend Black Republicans against racist attacks, claiming, “It happens all the time.”
Black Republicans are no stranger to this kind of opposition, as many Blacks as well as white Democrats often attack them for their decision to vote with the right—a choice that’s granted millions of white Americans without personal attacks.
O’Reilly first contacted Barovick after his first tweet, saying, “I’ll give you ’til noon to retract this racist tweet, Mr. Barovick. After that, I’ll assume you really meant it. #prcampaign.”
Barovick quickly responded, “Let me save you the trouble of waiting, Mr. O’Reilly. I meant it. Oh, and sorry about your campaign’s loss.”
Barovick did not stick by his statements, though, as two hours after responding to O’Reilly he tweeted an apology for his remarks about Moss.
