In his latest ad, far-right Senate candidate Josh Mandel of Ohio has once again joined the chorus of conservative hysteria over critical race theory. The advanced academic framework examines how racist policies in the United States' past have contributed to racial inequalities today.
Conservatives, however, falsely insist that critical race theory is a socialist doctrine ubiquitously taught in secondary schools. They claim the theory teaches white people to feel ashamed of America's past and consider themselves oppressors. As a result, Republican governors have taken steps to ban tenets of critical race theory from being taught in schools or workplace diversity trainings. Republican members of Congress have grilled Supreme Court nominees and high-level Defense Department officials over the theory as well.
So it wasn't a surprise that Mandel expressed his opposition to critical race theory in an effort to gin up support from Republican voters—but he did it from Edmund Pettus Bridge.
In 1965, Black civil rights activists were going to march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol building in Montgomery, but—as they tried to cross Edmund Pettus Bridge—were met with brutal attacks from armed police, who beat and gassed the peaceful protesters in a gruesome display that would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday." A few weeks later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the protesters across the bridge and into Montgomery, where they called for the end of Black voter suppression.
Mandel's reason for coming to the Edmund Pettus Bridge was far less noble.
Martin Luther King marched right here so skin color wouldn’t matter. pic.twitter.com/kVSU4zKdM1
— Josh Mandel (@JoshMandelOhio) April 5, 2022
Mandel says in the ad:
"Martin Luther King marched right here so skin color wouldn't matter. I didn't do two tours in Anbar Province, fighting alongside Marines of every color to come home and be called a racist. There's nothing racist about stopping critical race theory and loving America."
Soon after its release, the Senate candidate publicly invoked Reverend Doctor Bernice King, Dr. King's daughter and the CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, claiming she "motivated" him to create the ad.
Thank you @BerniceKing @TheKingCenter for motivating me to film this ad. My visit to Selma was powerful and inspiring and I look forward to returning and bringing my kids. 🙏🏾🇺🇸 https://t.co/QVFP3SUhB9
— Josh Mandel (@JoshMandelOhio) April 5, 2022
But King, who frequently calls out the misuse of her father's name and misrepresentation of his work, wasn't having any of it.
Josh: Regretfully, I do not believe that I or @TheKingCenter legitimately motivated you to film this ad, as it is in opposition to nonviolence and to much of what my father taught.
I encourage you to study my father/nonviolence in full.
Register: https://t.co/f0yu3u8jGd https://t.co/It6a84i6Ec
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 5, 2022
Mandel then proceeded to explain Dr. King to his daughter, somehow invoking the Second Amendment and telling King to study up on her history.
Your father knew the importance of the Second Amendment when he tried to exercise his right to self-defense and was wrongly denied a gun permit by anti-gun racists.
Firearms ≠ violence. Study your history better @BerniceKing. https://t.co/DRWG6NELt9
— Josh Mandel (@JoshMandelOhio) April 5, 2022
That led King to collect him once again.
Cruelly obtuse…The day after the anniversary of my father being assassinated and dying at the hands of white supremacy, imperialism, and gun violence.
If you study my father in full, you’ll discover what he believed over the course of time and not just what suits an agenda. https://t.co/QMK9VW1HA8
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 5, 2022
My father’s own words from his book, ‘Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story.’ I encourage you to read the entire book. #MLK pic.twitter.com/B27moNq8lr
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) April 5, 2022
People cheered her for defending her father's legacy.
This is what is called a MAJOR take-down. Well done, Dr. King, well done. https://t.co/Slq49PqgQ6
— deepFreeze (@njfrese) April 6, 2022
The grace of this woman. https://t.co/5ATuBeCA6k
— Teri Shockey 🧡 👻 🎃 (@1912Fenway) April 6, 2022
Bloop. https://t.co/pNXJBGYbVC
— Granny's Church Clap (@Its_KristaMarie) April 6, 2022
Others decried Mandel for his audacity.
You have to be a special kind of stupid to tell a daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that you know better than she does what her father's beliefs were. But I have confidence @BerniceKing will educate @JoshMandelOhio , if he's not too backward to learn. https://t.co/JKgRnmidLD
— Anita Parker Scrivner (@ParkerScrivner) April 6, 2022
Imagine arguing with MLK Jr’s OWN daughter…it’s the audacity for me… https://t.co/jOM3ZgZtE1
— Kenold Knight (@kenoldknight) April 6, 2022
Surely there needs to be a mercy rule put in place to keep the feckless @JoshMandelOhio from digging himself into a bigger hole. https://t.co/odsnWwUkFt
— Will Dickerson (@wbdickerson3) April 6, 2022
He actually told Dr. Bernice King to study HER history better. The audacity of mediocrity is boundless. https://t.co/UojamOuEVO
— ChadSay (@ChadSay) April 5, 2022
"But I'm a White Right-wing male and know more about your father and his work than you do dammit!" Never gets old. 🤣🙈 https://t.co/qRhLdSWWwP
— The Ghost of Kyiv 🏴🇺🇦🇵🇸🇪🇺 (@browitnoname1) April 5, 2022
@JoshMandelOhio, born 7yrs AFTER Dr. King was assassinated, decided to come on Ja'Bria's Internet and school THEE @BerniceKing, DAUGHTER of MLK, on who her FATHER was. KEEP THE KINGS NAMES OUT YOUR MOUTH!
White male audacity really has no limit!https://t.co/IMBZampA67 pic.twitter.com/KklYQWOHJ2
— Miss Frizzle's Bus (@SceneByAshlix) April 6, 2022
Yikes.
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