Samaria Rice responds to Shaun King sharing conversation on podcast
During a conversation with theGrio on Wednesday King referred to his conversation with Rice as "positive and warm"
One thing Shaun King knows how to do is trend on Twitter.
The author posted an article he wrote in regards to a recent conversation with Samaria Rice, the mother of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by police back in 2014. Rice chastised King for sharing the content of their conversation and accused him of impersonating a Black man in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
“Shaun King, Why do you think it’s so important to tell folks we had a conversation? Well, we talked and everything that was said was very toxic and uncomfortable for me to hear that you raised additional money and then said you did not want to bother me,” Rice wrote.
During a conversation with theGrio on Wednesday King referred to his conversation with Rice as “positive and warm.” He said the meeting came about after individuals from their respective teams were in contact with each other in hopes of getting Tamir’s case reopened.
He claims they all sat down on Friday including Rice and since the meeting their staffs have been in communication everyday.
“Personally, I don’t understand how you sleep at night I never gave you permission to raise anything. Along with the United States, you robbed me for the death of my son,” wrote Rice.
King claims he is shocked at Rice’s frustration. “I was very surprised because I felt like I did everything anybody from her team asked me to do.”
He also insisted the only reason he wrote the piece about their conversation was to get ahead of any press that may come with the reopening of Tamir’s case and to “bridge the gap.”
He also claimed he uses his platform to promote fundraisers and does not have access to any funds collected.
She added: “You gave me a cop and donut conversation. All lies Shaun, please stop thinking we on the same page. As a white man acting Black you are an imposter that can not be trusted. My son was 12-years-old and DOJ needs to reopen his case period.
Tamir human rights were violated why would you so ever make it about you? You are a selfish self-centered person and God will deal with you white man,” the mother captioned the post with, “For anyone that’s want to know the truth.”
King’s ethnicity has been questioned for years. His mother, Naomi Kay King, is a white woman who raised King and his brother as a single parent. However, in 2015, King stated that his mother told him his biological father is a light-skinned Black man.
A social media post from King that was posted a month ago began to trend on Twitter. He mentioned the fact that he “never pretended to be Black” a day in his entire life, while at the same time noting he was considered Black because being “mixed or bi-racial” was not a thing growing up in the ’80s and early ’90s.
He ended his statement by saying, “race, obviously was created as a social tool for power and oppression, and I don’t quite fit neatly in any box,” and that he doesn’t “feel no guilt about any of this.”
King said that he has been open about his race for years and that the conversation will continue to surface because people do not want to accept him as a Black man.
Of course, Black Twitter had a field day with the ordeal.
“A white mom and a dad who was so white that he passed for white, to me that does not equal a black child. It equals a white child who has a bit of black ancestry. Same way many black people have a bit of white ancestry, but are not white,” wrote a Twitter user.
“Wrote a whole dissertation saying nothing. It’s that audacity that screams white privilege,” added another.
Social media users could not help but notice that King did not respond to Rice’s comments about him using her story for financial gain.
“His response to this avoiding the actual issue and concentrating only on proving he’s black is so tiring. Just that same old filtered high school photo with comments limited to his friends,” added another user.
Another added: “I’m almost impressed with the fact that he’s been pulling this stunt since the Occupy movement, but when you take advantage of people in their lowest moments – for your financial game, that takes scumbaggery to a whole new level.”
Another added: “He has been capitalizing off of Black trauma for years. The same way Derrick Jaxn capitalized off of women’s traumatic experiences. People have to stop giving these internet frauds a platform to build a brand off of pain.”
theGrio reached out to Rice but did not hear back at the time this article was published.
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