White Louisiana Republican Allegedly Tells Black Democratic Party Official To ‘Shut Up, Boy’
Louisiana state Senator Jay Morris is accused of making the racist statement during a contentious redistricting hearing on May 8.
The next time white Republicans — or anyone, for that matter — accuse Black people of being on a “Democratic plantation” because we refuse to vote for the current party of white supremacy, remind them that the gutting of the Voting Rights Act came as a result of a white Republican legal battle to dilute Black voting power. Remind them of how Republicans across red state America immediately began using the Supreme Court decision to eliminate Black voting districts in their states.
And remember the white Louisiana Republican who told a room full of Black people at a legislative redistricting hearing, “Y’all need to shut up” when those Black people got understandably upset over Jim Crow making a quiet return. Also, remember that the Louisiana Republican in question appeared to call a Black party official “boy” during that same hearing.
Louisiana Democrats are accusing Republican state Sen. Jay Morris of calling a Black party official “boy” during a racially charged legislative redistricting hearing, though Morris denied using the offensive term.
Democratic Party executive director Dadrius Lanus said Morris told him to “Shut up boy” as the senator from Monroe left the table at which he was providing testimony May 8 on his bill that would redraw Louisiana’s unconstitutional congressional map.
In an interview with USA Today Network, Morris conceded he said, “Y’all need to shut up,” but insisted he did not use the word “boy.” In video and audio from the hearing reviewed by USA Today Network, it doesn’t appear that Morris said “boy” but did tell the crowd to “shut up.”
Indeed, Morris can’t be heard saying “boy” in the video, but Lanus and others say he said it when he was off-mic and walking away, much like President Donald Trump was when he appeared to call Black woman reporter Rachel Scott a “bitch” after blowing up at her for asking a perfectly relevant question about why he’s talking about cleaning pools while his Iran war is draining the wallets of U.S. citizens.
