The Oklahoma House of Representatives voted this week to reprimand state Rep. Sally Kern (R) for saying that she’s seen “a lot of people of color who didn’t study hard because they said the government would take care of them.”
The reprimand was approved by a vote of 76-16 Monday, after it was introduced by Rep. Mike Shelton (D), one of four black members of the state House.
“I made my apology, and I do understand that just saying you’re sorry does not make everything right,” Kern said in response to the vote, NewsOK.com reports.
“I said some words that were not real thought out and that offended many African-Americans and many women. That was not my intent. … I take full responsibility for it and I am truly sorry,” she said.
Kern was shellacked by some of her colleagues after she said in a debate on Affirmative Action that: “We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that’s tragic, but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don’t want to study as hard in school?”
“I’ve taught school,” she added, “and I saw a lot of people of color who didn’t study hard because they said the government would take care of them.”
She soon apologized — but maintained that her comments were taken out of context.
Jillian Rayfield
Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.
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