Sally Kohn: White Liberal Insults Subway Worker Who Helped Her On Twitter
Sally Kohn, the self-described liberal commentator for a variety of news sites and an active public speaker, has kicked up plenty of dust over the years.
Kohn is known for saying controversial and sometimes unconscionable things seemingly just to get a rise out of people, and her latest effort seems to be working as well.
While out on the NYC subway system, she realized she’d forgotten her wallet that held her subway pass. When she told the MTA officer about it, he was kind enough to let her go through without paying.
Rather than thank the man — or maybe she did to his face — she took to Twitter to basically call him a racist for helping her out.
Forgot my wallet. MTA officer let me on subway for free. #classprivilege #whiteprivilege
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) May 7, 2015
With the hashtags #classprivilege and #whiteprivilege, Kohn was essentially saying the man let her through not out of the kindness of his heart and the very common ability to identify with that embarrassing moment of forgetting one’s wallet, but because he was a racist, who preferred white people to minorities. Several followers on Twitter called Sally Kohn out for the perception of hypocrisy, noting that if someone is so concerned about there being white privilege or class privilege in society, then it’s their duty not to accept when those benefits are laid on the table.
@sallykohn Then why didn’t you stop him and lecture him about how you should’ve been stopped and interrogated? You USED your privilege! — Steve in TN (@pavehawk2007) May 7, 2015
@sallykohn Or, it was just someone being kind, who isn’t racist and understands people sometimes forget their wallets.
— Elefante (@Calle_Elefante) May 7, 2015
@sallykohn Why do you assume he never did it for a black lady or gentleman in the same circumstance? — M. Fehrman (@MFehrman) May 7, 2015
You’ve GOT to be kidding me, @sallykohn… turning a kind gesture into a race issue?! Why don’t we ask the officer what his intentions were?
— Kate Hyde (@misskathrynhyde) May 7, 2015
@sallykohn People can be kind without it being based on race, sex, economic status, or looks. It isn’t always as complicated as we make it. — Elefante (@Calle_Elefante) May 7, 2015
To her credit (or perhaps trolling ability), Kohn has not backed down from many of the commenters, responding to a number of tweets asking her to defend herself and even sending this follow-up.
OMG PEOPLE! Pointing out that our actions are *all* influence by race/class privilege is NOT AN INSULT. Implicit bias is a UBIQUITOUS FACT!
— Sally Kohn (@sallykohn) May 7, 2015
In past writings, Sally Kohn has called Baltimore rioters “patriots,” wished for her young daughter to be gay because she is, and said that saying the words “illegal immigrant” is just like using the N-word.
Do you think Sally Kohn was right to call out the subway officer as a racist? Sound off in the comments section.
[Image via Huffington Post]
