Penn Professor Deletes Tweet that Called Dr. Ben Carson an Offensive Term

, Spencer Irvine, Leave a comment

The College Fix has more on the subject:

The University of Pennsylvania must be very “proud” of Anthea Butler, one of its professors of religious studies, as she referred to GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson as a “coon” back on September 29.

Specifically, she said in a now-deleted tweet “If only there was a ‘coon of the year’ award…” in response to Carson saying that NASCAR fans had a right to fly the Confederate flag at its races if they so desire.

The term is quite an offensive one for African-Americans, and “deriv[es] from the Portuguese word ‘barracoos,’ which is a hut-like dwelling used to store slaves during auctions,” according to Campus Reform.