|
Listen to this article here
|
Today’s Republican Party may be the party of Lincoln in name, but that certainly doesn’t seem to be the case in practice when Ku Klux Klan imagery is displayed in plain sight on Lawrence County, Alabama’s GOP marketing material.
In Lawrence, just a few hours north of Montgomery, Alabama, where the National Memorial for Peace and Justice is, the Lawrence County Republican Party is under fire after it displayed what appears to be three klansmen drawn into the image to represent the GOP’s Elephant’s legs.
A screenshot of the Ku Klux Klan imagery was taken before it was removed from the local party’s Facebook page.
“I would like to offer a deep and sincere apology for a picture that temporarily appeared on this page last night. A google search picture of a GOP elephant was used and later found to have hidden images that do not represent the views or beliefs of the Lawrence County Republican Party,” Shannon Terry, the Lawrence County GOP Chair, stated, adding, “As chairman, I take full responsibility for the error.”
A representative from the party said the Ku Klux Klan imagery graphic was taken via a Google search.
Anthony Daniels, the House Minority Leader and a Democrat from Huntsville, condemned the image’s use. “Shame on the Lawrence County Republican Party for this disgusting image,” Daniels tweeted.
Woody Harrington is the freelance illustrator who created the image for a Mother Jones article, titled, “The Republican Party Is Racist and Soulless. Just Ask This Veteran GOP Strategist.”
“Are you a Republican politician looking for a promising image to symbolize your new campaign?” Writing in all caps, Harrington stated on Instagram, “this is not it,” refereing to the Ku Klux Klan imagery.
“2 years ago I created this image for a piece in Mother Jones Magazine about the hate, bigotry and racism hidden within Trump’s GOP. It’s now come to my attention that the Hate Elephant has been given new life, without permission – or credit of course – in not one, but two Republican campaigns. Unfortunately, when they Google searched “GOP elephant”, they never bothered looking close enough at the original source material, or the elephant’s legs to notice the hidden KKK hoods,” adding “Let this be a lesson in copyright karma, and always remember to ask for a proof.”
Calls for Lawrence, Alabama County Republican Party Chair Terry’s resignation for displaying the Ku Klux Klan imagery are now being called by Lawrence County NAACP, who plan to hold a press conference on Friday.