D.C. rapper Wale told his 3.6 million Twitter followers Friday that Sen. Harry Reid’s recent comments on the Washington Redskins’ name was just his way of bringing attention to himself.
Wale, whose real name is Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, said that Mr. Reid was “sketchy” since he once made comments about then-Sen. Barack Obama’s lack of “negro dialect” in the run-up to the 2008 election.
“Anybody been followin the Senator Reid Stuff?” the musician tweeted. “Senator Reid got a lot to say about other ppl bein racist . But I did a lil research . He sketchy. … Basically he [trying to] use racism to make a bigger name for his self.”
In 2010, the Senate majority leader told journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann that Mr. Obama could be successful in his election bid because he was a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” Mr. Reid later apologized for the remarks.
Wale, who also has a friendship with Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, tweeted of Mr. Reid: “Same dude tht was talkin down on Obama bein a ’light skinned’ with ’negro dialect’ all the sudden is a crusader for what’s right in race.
“Senator Reid don’t know anything about Washington team and I doubt he cares he just using a sensitive time to garner attention. Easy call,” he tweeted.
SEE ALSO: Washington Redskins respond to Harry Reid on team name change
Mr. Reid said Thursday that the NFL “has a lot of problems with all the lawsuits being filed against them for their negligence, and it would seem to me that it would make a lot of sense that they should get rid of having a group of Americans as mascots. They’re not mascots — they’re human beings. I have 22 tribes in Nevada and they’re insulted by this cavalier attitude about what they’re being called.”
Mr. Reid made the comments after a letter co-signed by 50 Senate Democrats was sent to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, calling for him to find a way to change the Redskins name.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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