The chairwoman of the Galveston, Texas, Republican Party is under fire for sending a blatantly racist text message she later tried to blame on “fast” typing, according to KHOU:
Galveston County Republican Party Chairwoman Yolanda Waters is facing calls for resignation over a racially charged text message she allegedly sent to another member of the party.
The text message sent earlier this year reportedly referred to J.T. Edwards, a black man, who is a member of the State Republican Executive Committee.
The Galveston Daily News reports that the text message in question regarded loans Waters and her husband made to Edwards:
“Waters complained about personal loans she and her husband had made to Edwards, and then followed her complaint about the money by calling Edwards a ‘typical n**.’”
Edwards addressed the message from Waters with a statement on his Facebook page:
“Unfortunately, one of our own recently perceived a political fundraising solicitation as behavior ‘typical’ of my demographic and called it out using a racial epithet. This news shook me to my core. Those of you who know me will agree: the only thing typical about me is that I am a typical Republican – and extremely proud of it.”
In her defense, Waters claimed that she had been typing “fast” and failed to proofread her text before sending it:
“I usually type very fast, and in this case, I moved too fast to see that the word was there. I made the typo because I did not proofread my text.”
Waters also maintains that there’s no way she can be a racist because she happens to be Latina and African-American:
“I am saddened and hurt that anyone believes I am ‘racist’ against my own people.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R), however, has asked Waters to resign from a state-appointed board for the text she sent.
And Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush (R) also weighed in on the controversy with this posting on Twitter:
Again, there is no reason, no excuse and no room in our party for racist comments. The Galveston GOP Chairwoman should apologize to the respected member of the Texas SREC for using a racial slur to describe him. And she should resign as county chairman. https://t.co/BG0omQFLnC
— George P. Bush (@georgepbush) December 8, 2019
So far, Waters continues to resist calls for her to resign from her post as head of the Galveston GOP.
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