Clay Aiken's RNC tweet stirs accusations of racism

Clay Aiken, singer, actor, American Idol runner-up and activist for children with disabilities, was accused by country star and staunch Republican John Rich of racism after the former tweeted suspect remarks about diversity (or the lack thereof) at the Republican National Convention.

Aiken tweeted Tuesday night that he was:

"Playing drinking game with my brother now. We drink every time we see a black person on screen at the RNC convention. #soberasamormon"

— Clay Aiken (@clayaiken) August 29, 2012

 

That prompted a tsk-tsk reply from Rich a few minutes later. "I wonder how long it will be till @clayaiken takes that idiotic post down," he wrote. "Clay, you're better than that...I hope. Sincerely, JR."

"And to finish it off, @clayaiken hashtags soberasamormon?" Rich continued. "I thought your charity was for inclusion, not EXCLUSION. What happened?"

Rich, one half of the country duo Big & Rich, endorsed John McCain in 2008 and performed at the RNC that year.

Aiken, who runs the National Inclusion Project, offered this chiding retort:"My charity is. Why isn't your party? ;-) @johnrich: @clayaiken I thought your charity was for inclusion, not EXCLUSION. What happened?"

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Nicky]

It's clear to me that Clay Aikens' remark is not racist, it's about the fact that the Republicans are excluding blacks from their party, thus the drinking game and the fact that he is sober... Rich is not too swift, first he doesn't get the comment, second, he tweets about it, just confirming his status of ignoramus.

[Ryan]

It's clear to me that Clay Aiken's remark is racist, it's always someone on the left who looks at race first, and it would take someone who is racist to come up with a drinking game based solely on race. Aiken is not too swift, he makes a racial comment and doesn't even realize it, confirming his status of being ignorant about his own racism.

[Ryan]

Oh, and Nicky... no Republicans are "excluding" blacks from the party. In the last election, 95% of blacks *chose* to vote Democrat. Unlike Democrats, Republicans believe in the right to freedom to vote for whom you choose.

Anyone is welcome to join the Republican party. How long does this ignorance need to be fought?

[Fred Derf]

Clearly, Clay was posting that blacks (and probably many other minorities) are so rare at a Republican convention that you can make a drinking game out of it. Sure, it was a joke but you can see that he was criticizing the lack of diversity within the stewardship of the Republican party.

[seki415]

How are Clay Aiken's comments racist when he's stating the truth that blacks (and other non-whites) are grossly underrepresented in the Republican National Convention, politics or in any other party/position of government. He's brining awareness to the fact that the number of people in government and other political organizations/positions of power are overwhelmingly white. Yes the tweet was crudly written but it's the truth and if people are offended by that, that is not Clay's problem.

[JS]

Man, we live in a world that is just too "politically" correct.

[Chris]

It seems to me that his comments are pointing out racism, nor promoting it.

[BARRY EPSTEIN]

Clearly Republicans don't want blacks to vote, much less join their party. 33 states, 32 of them Republican, have instituted laws that require government-issued photo-I.D. as the sole identifier at the polls. Ethnic minorities and the poor don't tend to have these kinds of cards because they often don't have health care or drivers' licenses. Aiken's comment was clearly a sardonic reference to the Republicans being an exclusionary party, and Cletis and the boys are too stupid to see that.