Email from State Representative Causes Controversy
A white Alabama legislator has stirred outrage after sending an email that black lawmakers condemned as racist.
The email forwarded Wednesday by Republican Rep. Lynn Greer, of Rogersville, described an experiment showing how punished monkeys will eventually stop reaching for a dangling banana as they accept the status quo.
It was sent as African-American lawmakers used delaying tactics to fight legislative districts they said minimized black voters’ influence.
House Black Caucus Chairman John Knight called the email, “the most racial insult I’ve ever seen.”
The tensions in the statehouse threatened to derail the last days of the legislative session.
Greer says he apologized to the black caucus, and says he didn’t “mean anything bad.” He says the email meant all incumbents need to eventually be replaced.
Statement from Minority Leader Anthony Daniels :
“I am surprised and disappointed by the derogatory email that has been circulated. I have been caring for my ill infant daughter in Huntsville and was unable to join my colleagues today, but all that I can add to what they have said is that the email speaks for itself. This legislative session has been driven by those focused on racially gerrymandered legislative districts, protecting Confederate monuments, and expediting the death penalty appeals process instead of issues that matter to most Alabamians like job creation and the economy. This episode and the hollow apology issued by Rep. Greer makes clear the legislature is in dire need of more decorum and respect; it is my hope that Speaker McCutcheon follows on his commitment to improve decorum among the membership of this body and take resolute steps to address this situation in short order. We cannot have a stronger Alabama if its representatives cannot find a way to disagree with dignity.”
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State Rep. Lynn Greer (R – Rogersville) on Wednesday released the following statement:
“The case study in the email that I forwarded has existed for decades, and a simple Internet search shows that the story is based upon actual psychological experiments that were conducted by in the 1920s. The body of the email has been reprinted – word for word – in several magazines, textbooks, and journals, such as ‘Psychology Today,’ and it even has its own Wikipedia page.
A constituent sent me the email, which has been distributed nationally and compares the experiment to today’s political climate in the U.S. Congress, not the Alabama Legislature. The last paragraph of the email implies that ALL incumbents, whether Republican or Democrat, should be replaced.
Without comment or edits on my part, I forwarded the email to various members who might have an interest, and, as a result, it has been taken out of context and given a meaning that was not intended for pure political purposes. For that, I apologize to my colleagues.”
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