Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Oklahoma GOP Lawmaker Says 'Colored Babies' Remark Was Just A 'Slip Of The Tongue' After Backlash

Oklahoma GOP Lawmaker Says 'Colored Babies' Remark Was Just A 'Slip Of The Tongue' After Backlash
Brad Boles for State House District 51 / Facebook

An Oklahoma lawmaker is seeing repercussions for using the term "colored" as a description of babies during a heated debate in the state's House of Representatives earlier this week.

Republican State Representative, Brad Boles received backlash for his remarks made while arguing for anti-abortion bills. He has since tried to apologize for his word usage.


Video of the incident was captured and shared online.

The comments came on Tuesday during the session where politicians were debating bill HB 2441. This bill would criminalize abortions performed after there was "cardiac activity". This is also known as a fetal heartbeat bill.

Boles was arguing in favor of the bill, attempting to outline the effect of abortions on minority communities.

He said:

"In 2017, 862,000 babies were aborted. 28 percent of those babies were colored babies."
"240,000 Black kids. 215,000 Hispanic kids. These kids mattered and I'm here to advocate for them as well."

The state rep's words were quickly condemned online.




Bole's words quickly went viral, with people calling him out for using "colored" in that context. Some even pointed out Boles is fairly young for a politician, so it's not like this vocabulary for him was the product of another era.

Later on in the day, as the House's session stretched into the night, Boles tried to apologize on the House floor, claiming saying what he did "was not what it was intended to be."

He continued:

"Earlier today, I made a mistake on the House floor. We were debating a passionate bill, and through the slip of the tongue, I said a word that was not what it was intended to be, and so I apologize for any of the members of the House or that listed online that I may have offended."

However, his comments weren't forgiven so easily. Alicia Andrews, the chair of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, responded to the statements by Boles.

She said:

"As a Black woman who is old enough to be his mother, I am shocked that someone is using the term colored in 2021."
"Colored is not part of your normal lexicon. If it's not part of your normal lexicon, it doesn't just come out. So, it is part of who he is."

Others online commented on the situation unfavorably against Boles as well.




It was also quickly pointed out Boles did not provide sources for the statistics he spouted during his racist remark.

The Guttmacher Institute did report in 2017 over 862,000 abortions were performed in clinical settings in the United States. However, this represented a 7% decline from three years prior.

Additionally, across the country, rates of abortion varied from state to state, though states that supported abortion rights contributed more to the decline between 2014 and 2017.

Since his viral comments, many online have called on Boles to resign, and said his comments have no place in politics.

Others saw it as an opportunity to make jokes.




As of writing, Rep. Boles has not resigned over his comments. The bill at the center of this controversy is still being discussed in the Oklahoma state legislature.

More from News

Screenshots of Joseph Boakai and Donald Trump
NBC News

Trump Dragged After Praising English Skills Of President Of Liberia—Where English Is The Official Language

President Donald Trump was called out after he praised Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s command of English—embarrassingly unaware that English is the official language of Liberia.

Boakai had been delivering a speech during a meeting with other African leaders at the White House on Wednesday in which he remarked that Liberia is "a long-time friend of the United States and we believe in your policy of making America great again."

Keep ReadingShow less
Alex Cooper singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'
@MBDChicago/Twitter (X)

'Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Gets Brutally Booed At Wrigley Field After Painfully Off-Key Singing

If there's one thing that all baseball fans can come together about, it's the importance of their traditions—and songs.

In the seventh inning at Wrigley Field during a match between the Cubs and the Cardinals, popular Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper was invited to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and brought two backup dancers with her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Linda Yaccarino
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

X CEO Resigns Day After AI Chatbot Grok Praised Hitler In Alarming Series Of Antisemitic Tweets

Linda Yaccarino—the former NBC Universal executive who later took the reins at X—stepped down as CEO of billionaire Elon Musk's platform after two years on the job just a day after Grok, the platform's AI chatbot, went on antisemitic rants and openly praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok issued deeply antisemitic responses on Tuesday following a reported software update that encouraged the bot to embrace what developers described as the “politically incorrect.” Taking that directive to heart, Grok responded with a series of disturbing posts that included praise for Hitler and even a statement expressing its aspiration to become a “digital version” of the Nazi leader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Black and white photo of a falling spider.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

People Divulge Their 'Rare' Phobias That People Refuse To Believe

I am a SEVERE claustrophobic.

I have struggled with this issue for decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

'The Onion' Rips Ted Cruz With Brutal Headline After Yet Another Vacation During Texas Disaster

The satirical news site The Onion had social media users cackling with its brutal headline mocking Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz for once again being out of the country when Texas was hit by another deadly natural disaster.

Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to Cancún while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less