Editorial: What happens after Councilman Kevin de León’s apology tour? A little over half a year after a recording of De León using racist slurs was released, the city council candidate from South Austin is walking back the apology tour and attempting to avoid being labeled a racist.
Why does the De León campaign think the apology tour makes it all right? His campaign says it’s because his apology was sincere and because racism in Austin is over. He’s even using the incident to build up his credentials and credentials as an anti-racist. He’s using that incident for his own political benefit.
This is what happens when a politician makes an insensitive remark in a private conversation and then goes on television and publicly apologizes and tries to walk back his apology. They do this because they realize it probably came off as sincere, but then they can also say it was a private conversation and therefore it was OK.
This has become the standard response for politicians who apologize for saying something inappropriate and then say they are sorry and are trying to walk back their apology.
A black councilman, Councilman De León, apologized in August for saying the N-word. He was elected in August, so he’s a little late and a little late in trying to walk back his apology. Now he’s saying, OK, I’ll try again. The latest comments in the De León campaign are the second example of how a politically expedient statement can later become politically difficult.
Councilman De León in a June 9 interview with the New York Times, made comments about how he is a proud member of Black Lives Matter. But to the extent that the campaign is aware of his remarks, they make no attempt to dispute that he is a proud member of Black Lives Matter. Instead, De León is using the incident to build up his political credentials.
Councilman De Leion is walking back comments to the New York Times that he made in June. He had this to say, “They’re dead. They’re all dead.” As a result of the comments, he says, “I’ve been inundated with death threats on Facebook and from people who have said they will kill me.”
The campaign says, no, these are death threats, but not from actual Black Lives Matter members. They come from people who don’t believe that De León is a racist and doesn’t believe his comments are racist. They come from people who don’t believe