Rachel Dolezal 2.0, #BlackLivesMatter Activist Shaun King is White

[SoloFlyer]

That comment was based on what he said here:

After that day when I was first asked if I was mixed, while I was still a very young child, kids and their well-intentioned parents began telling me they knew who my black father was, that I was so and so's cousin, etc. This was in small-town Versailles, Kentucky, in the 1980s.

I think the guy is a fraud. Either way, I think it's funny to say anyone fell for some bullshirt by Breitbart. The dude is one of the major figures in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. According to his birth certificate, both of his parents are white. Especially in light of the Rachel Dolezal story, that's a story. Should they have simply not reported it?

Except Breitbart's evidence is the following:
- A police report listing him as white, where the reporting officer has come out and clarified that he never asked King his race and simply made the assumption because King was light skinned and his mother was white. So rather than do his diligence, the officer made an assumption.
- Birth certificates are not required to list the biological father, though it is highly recommended and encouraged in order to establish proper paternity.
- And a lot of speculation about a car crash and other stories.

Not exactly a smoking gun on their part. Just fuel for the propaganda machine.

 

[LongTimeListener]

And YF, constant media skeptic, buys Breitbart 100 percent.

 

[YankeeFan]

It appears most likely to be an incorrect story.

Based on what? He's offered no proof that he's bi-racial.

And, the evidence Breitbart presented was true. Both of the folks listed on his birth certificate are white. What would you determine based on that?

King could have told journalists this story when they first approached him, instead of avoiding them.

I think Breitbart sums it up well here:

Shaun King has investigated Shaun King and found Shaun King biracial.

Shaun King Tells MSNBC: My Dad's Black, No Followup

 

[franticscribe]

I'm not sure how he can even claim to have kept his "complicated personal history" close to his chest.

If he identified as black as a teen, but everyone in his small town knew that his white mom was married to a white dad at the time of his birth, hasn't he been exposing his mother's "affair" for years?

You've never lived in a small town, have you? Let alone a small Southern town ...

 

[Stoney]

Every friend I had was black, my girlfriends were black, I was seen as black, treated as black, and endured constant overt racism as a young black teenager.

If true, then it does make me curious why was he listed as white in that police report? I mean if everyone saw him as a black teen, and he too identified as such, then why was described as a white teen in the only document actually from that time that we've seen?

I honestly don't know what to make of this story now. I'll admit my initial inclination earlier was that he was full of shirt (especially when I first read that police report vs. the story he'd told), but now find myself wavering the other way after reading the words of him and those who vouch for him. Yet there're still plenty of discrepancies in his story and still the fact that the only evidence he's produced are potentially self-serving stories of folks who could easily be lying, when there IS more reliable public record evidence out there that could be produced to prove many of his claims, it'd be nice if he'd actually produce some. One really weird ass story.

 

[SoloFlyer]

We don't know what his mother told him.

We know what he now says his mother told him.

And, I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me why this wasn't a story.

Because it's based on unverified information. No reputable news organization runs with the information Breitbart had, which all came from one blogger who admits she stalks King's social media presence. This blogger has an active, admitted agenda against him. That bias would raise red flags in any reputable newsroom.

Real reporters would take the time to actually contact people before running with any of this. The NY Times reached out to the officer on the police report that's being presented as major evidence, and he admitted not actually asking anyone in the family what King's race was. He made an assumption. The Washington Post has tried to get in contact with the man and woman on the birth certificate and has been unsuccessful so far.

You don't have a story until you have as much information as possible. Breitbart and Co. had biased, inaccurate information. They didn't have a full picture. So it's not a story. It may become one eventually, but not at that stage. And further information has come out to throw the initial information into question.

 

[SoloFlyer]

If true, then it does make me curious why was he listed as white in that police report? I mean if everyone saw him as a black teen, and he too identified as such, then why was described as a white teen in the only document actually from that time that we've seen?

"Keith Broughton, the investigating detective, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that he had not asked Mr. King about his race but filled out the form based on the observation of the student's light skin and white mother."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/20/u...es-claims-he-lied-about-race-and-assault.html

The reporting officer made an assumption. Didn't verify anything.

 

[YankeeFan]

And YF, constant media skeptic, buys Breitbart 100 percent.

I'm a skeptic.

My skepticism isn't limited to the media.

Breitbart makes no bones about its ideological bent, but so far, the only evidence presented -- and everyone agrees to this -- is the birth certificate, which lists his parents as white.

Now, maybe he is the child of a "light-skinned" black man -- what does that make him, a quadroon, or an octoroon, do you suppose? But that doesn't make Breitbart's story "wrong", or mean anyone was "taken in" by it.

At worst, it means that they drew the only logical conclusion from the evidence they had, and the truth defied logic.

 

[JC]

Because it's based on unverified information. No reputable news organization runs with the information Breitbart had, which all came from one blogger who admits she stalks King's social media presence. This blogger has an active, admitted agenda against him. That bias would raise red flags in any reputable newsroom.

Real reporters would take the time to actually contact people before running with any of this. The NY Times reached out to the officer on the police report that's being presented as major evidence, and he admitted not actually asking anyone in the family what King's race was. He made an assumption. The Washington Post has tried to get in contact with the man and woman on the birth certificate and has been unsuccessful so far.

You don't have a story until you have as much information as possible. Breitbart and Co. had biased, inaccurate information. They didn't have a full picture. So it's not a story. It may become one eventually, but not at that stage. And further information has come out to throw the initial information into question.

Buffalo News might.

 

[Songbird]

Tbe Newtown denier is about to put up another $25,000.

 

[Big Circus]

I'm a skeptic.

My skepticism isn't limited to the media.

Breitbart makes no bones about its ideological bent, but so far, the only evidence presented -- and everyone agrees to this -- is the birth certificate, which lists his parents as white.

Now, maybe he is the child of a "light-skinned" black man -- what does that make him, a quadroon, or an octoroon, do you suppose? But that doesn't make Breitbart's story "wrong", or mean anyone was "taken in" by it.

At worst, it means that they drew the only logical conclusion from the evidence they had, and the truth defied logic.

"Just because the story was not correct about its central assertion doesn't mean it was wrong."

Not that it's been conclusively proven that King is biracial, but that's the argument you're making.

 

[YankeeFan]

"Keith Broughton, the investigating detective, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that he had not asked Mr. King about his race but filled out the form based on the observation of the student's light skin and white mother."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/20/u...es-claims-he-lied-about-race-and-assault.html

The reporting officer made an assumption. Didn't verify anything.

Um, what's incorrect about listing someone who is light skinned, and is at least 50% white as white?

It's at least as correct as listing him as black, even if his father was fully African-American.