‘Black people are not props:’ Anti-Roy Moore ads are racist, Twitter users say
The Alabama Senate race candidates are making last-minute pushes for votes before the state election Dec. 12.
Controversial Republican candidate Roy Moore’s opponent, Doug Jones, a Democrat, is under fire for a flyer targeting minority voters.
The flyer shows a picture of a skeptical-looking black man below the caption, “Think if a black man went after high school girls, anyone would try to make him a senator?”
The flyer alludes to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by Moore with minors, first reported by The Washington Post.
Moore denied the allegations and has refused to drop out of the race.
“Roy Moore has lower standards and still comes up short,” the text on the flyer continues. “It’s time to hold Roy Moore as accountable as anyone else.”
WHNT NEWS 19 reported that the flyers were indeed sent by Doug Jones for Senate Committee.
Twitter users lampooned the flyer and the Democratic party.
“This is *NOT* how do outreach to Black voters!” one user wrote. “I don’t know who thought this was going to help, but this campaign has engaged Black voters despicably.”
The Doug Jones campaign should be made aware that Black people are not props without dignity and we deserve respect, not cheap ploys that insult our intelligence.
— William C. (@williamcson) December 7, 2017
Sometimes when you try to target voters of a particular race and show how not racist you are you end up being incredibly racist. https://t.co/3xLzReWZau
— mitrebox (@mitrebox) December 7, 2017
In case people think Democrats are holier than thou...
— Kimya N. Dennis (@KimyaNDennisPhD) December 7, 2017
Here ya go!!https://t.co/dBoBaJjSyk
Doug Jones Flyer in AL.
— Google: "Tapper, Lewinsky, Date, Chubby" (@NolteNC) December 7, 2017
Why does #NeverTrump support racists? pic.twitter.com/m0MTPMRQII
Delores Baker told WHNT NEWS 19 the ad was trying to draw attention.
“I saw this part of it, and I thought it was funny. We’ve all seen memes like this, and I just thought it was to grab our attention, to be different from any other mail.”
She added that the flyer could anger some voters.
“It’s another one of those things that’s one of those harsh truths in the world, Baker told WHNT. “It’s one of those things that may be true, but we wouldn’t talk about it or face it.”
Veronica Jones also told WHNT that she believed the flyer pressured Alabama residents to vote by race.
“I feel it was putting you in a position to vote based on race, versus the correct candidate, or a candidate,” she said.
This story was originally published December 7, 2017 at 6:37 PM with the headline "‘Black people are not props:’ Anti-Roy Moore ads are racist, Twitter users say."