Jamilah Lemieux, senior editor at Ebony, launched a Twitter tirade against black conservatives, such as Ben Carson, and attacked Republican National Committee deputy press secretary Raffi Williams after incorrectly assuming he was white.
She was set off by news that Carson and Armstrong Williams were going to start a magazine for black conservatives.
(Yes, Ben Carson is launching a Black conservative magazine with Armstrong Williams. I have drinking games in mind already.)
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
@BETpolitichick @SistahScholar @orlandowatson @Raffiwilliams @hugheynewsome I 100% do not want to know more, I wish I knew less!
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
Lemieux’s reaction sparked Williams to weigh in questioning why she was seemingly opposed to intellectual diversity.
@JamilahLemieux wish you knew less? hoped you would encourage diversity of thought. @BETpolitichick @SistahScholar @orlandowatson
— Raffi Williams (@Raffiwilliams) March 27, 2014
Soon after, Lemieux tried to dismiss Williams as a “white dude” telling her what to think.
@Raffiwilliams @BETpolitichick @SistahScholar @orlandowatson Oh great, here comes a White dude telling me how to do this Black thing. Pass.
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
@JamilahLemieux who are you refering to as white… Armstrong and Carson are black @BETpolitichick @SistahScholar @orlandowatson
— Raffi Williams (@Raffiwilliams) March 27, 2014
@Raffiwilliams @BETpolitichick @SistahScholar @orlandowatson YOU. Now, leave, I have no interest in this conversation.
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
@JamilahLemieux You are questioning someones blackness.sorry I do not fit your stereotypes @BETpolitichick @SistahScholar @orlandowatson
— Raffi Williams (@Raffiwilliams) March 27, 2014
After realizing her mistake, Lemieux offered an apology of sorts, but it was far from heartfelt.
@Raffiwilliams @BETpolitichick @SistahScholar @orlandowatson I don't care what race you are. I dont know why you GOP folks troll on here.
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
@Raffiwilliams I was looking at your avi without blowing it up. I apologize for that. However, I care about NOTHING you have to say.
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
For the Conservative trolls in my mentions, I thought @Raffiwilliams was White because I didn't blow up his avi. And I apologized. Go away.
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
After her apology, she continued to denigrate conservatives, comparing them to cockroaches and calling Carson “insane.”
I forgot that tweeting something about a Conservative is like leaving a cookie out in a house full of roaches and turning off the lights.
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
And how terrible their reading comprehension is #onhere.
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
And just because I respect your right to HAVE them does not mean I have to engage them. Ben Carson sounds completely insane to me…
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014
…so I don't take him, his horrible ideas on race and politics anything else other than his medical work seriously.
— @Jamilahlemieux on Threads (@JamilahLemieux) March 27, 2014