Republican legislator Werner Horn stated that slavery was not racist due to slave owners’ love for money — it got so much worse from there.
What We Know:
- The NRA-endorsed legislator serves in New Hampshire’s House of Representatives for a district that includes the 99.5 percent white town of Hill, N.H., and his 95.9 percent white hometown of Franklin, N.H.. He is also is rated 79 percent by the American Conservative Union.
- He has been very public with his racism. For example, in a recently deleted Facebook post he commented on a post by former State House member Dan Hynes, who stated the question: “If Trump is the most racist president in American history, what does that say about all of the other presidents who owned slaves?”
- Horn replied with “Wait, owning slaves doesn’t make you racist…” On Tuesday, Hynes responded “I guess not. Which is surprising since everything else makes someone a racist.” Horn then MADE IT WORSE by saying, “It shouldn’t be surprising since owning slaves wasn’t a decision predicated on race but on economics. It’s a business decision.”
- After this exchange gained traction, Eboni Sears (a black woman and a past resident of the comparatively more diverse town, Dover, N.H. (89 percent white, 1.3 percent black)), then had a conversation with Horn about what he said through Facebook.
- In this conversation obtained by The Root, Horn accuses Sears of actually being the one who was being prejudiced and that Horn couldn’t be racist because of his military background. This is only part of how left it went.
- When asked if his initial comment that “owning slaves doesn’t make you racist” may have been misconstrued by The Root, Horn replied: “No. When your actions are motivated by your feelings on the race of an individual, that is racism. You have to ask and then answer the question: ‘Why is that person owning another person?’” He added. “That’s how you figure out if something is racist, sexist, homophobic. You have to figure out what’s the motivation behind the action. If there was a purely financial motivation to owning a slave, then it is not racist.”
In conclusion…this is a hot mess.
