Winkler Calls Black Justice ‘Uncle Thomas,’ Apologizes

Golden Valley and St. Louis Park Rep. Ryan Winkler responded to the Supreme Court’s reversal of a part of the Voting Rights Act by calling the court’s lone black justice “Uncle Thomas” in a tweet.

The tweet, which Winkler has since deleted, read:

“VRA majority is four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas. Marriage decision may blur Court’s backsliding.”

“Uncle Tom” is a derogatory term that refers to blacks who are “overeager to win the approval of whites,” according to Merriam-Webster. It traces its roots back to Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. 

Winkler’s tweet referred to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. After deleting the tweet he wrote:

“I didn't think it was offensive to suggest that Justice Thomas should be even more concerned about racial discrimination than colleagues.”

He later apologized, tweeting, “I did not understand "Uncle Tom" as a racist term, and there seems to be some debate about it. I do apologize for it, however.”

Winkler has a bachelor’s in history from Harvard, and many followers doubted that he didn’t know “Uncle Tom” has racial undertones:

• “I'm concerned you made it through HS if you did not know "Uncle Tom" is a racist term,” tweeted user Milkshakes Anytime.
• “So, basically you're saying that you're so racially naïve that you used a word you didn't know was denigrating?”
• “Could it be that @RepRyanWinkler is making an argument for literacy standards in voting?” joked Rick Sheridan.
• “You didn't realize a white man calling a black man a slur synonymous with being servile and a race-traitor was racist? Oh,” tweeted Robert A George.