According to Warren Hurst, who sits on the Sevier County Commission in Tennessee, white men in the United States have “very few rights,” and it’s time that the American people “wake up.”

During a debate on the subject of guns Monday at a meeting of the county commissioners, Hurst went off on a homophobic rant and later claimed he wasn’t at all prejudiced.

HuffPost reports:

“’We got a queer running for president if that ain’t about as ugly as you can get,’ he said, in comments captured by Knoxville-based station WVLT. ‘Look what we got running for president in the Democratic Party. We can go over here to Hoss’ jail [the Sevier County sheriff] and get better people out of there than those running for [the] Democratic [nomination] to be president of the United States.'”

Sadly, many in the audience applauded what Hurst had to say, with some even waving little American flags.

Hurst then added:

“I’m not prejudiced, but by golly, a white male in this country has very few rights and they’re getting took more every day.”

Nah, he’s not prejudiced, he just enjoys attacking anyone that’s the least bit different from him. Apparently Mr. Hurst hasn’t noticed that we don’t live in a segregated country anymore. He’d probably love to see us go back to those days.

And then there’s Hurst’s assertion that white men have “very few rights” in the United States. That’s so ludicrous that it’d be laughable if it wasn’t so patently false. 

Think about it: White men are pulled over by police much less often than people of color. The entire power structure of nearly every system in this country is controlled by white men. Even the current president is a narrow-minded old white man who probably would have stood and hooted in approval if he’d been at the county commission meeting in Tennessee on Monday.

After the meeting, Hurst told a local TV station that he has some black friends. It’s the very same defense every racist uses. But it’s nothing more than trying to excuse bigotry.

Someone needs to wake up, that’s for sure. And his name is Warren Hurst.

 

Featured Image Via Screenshot