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State Superintendent Candidate Deletes Twitter Account, Apologizes After Saying She Was Called Racial Slur At 16

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Elizabeth Weibel Contributor
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A candidate for state superintendent of schools in Wisconsin has deleted her Twitter account after she tweeted that she was called a racial slur meant for black people.

Deborah Kerr, a white candidate, tweeted that when she was sixteen years old, she had been called a racial slur. The story was sent in response to a tweet from Madison Payton, a co-host of the podcast “Race Through Education,” ABC News reported.

“When was the first time someone called you the n-word? I was 18,” Payton’s tweet read.

Kerr responded, saying, “I was 16 in high school and white — my lips were bigger than most and that was the reference given to me.”

The tweet from Kerr came at 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the day that the primary for state superintendent of schools in Wisconsin took place.

Since then, Kerr has, deleted the tweet, shut down her Twitter account, and has issued an apology.

“I posted a tweet in response to a post that dealt with the issue of racism. While not intending the post to be interpreted as racist, the post was itself insensitive and so I shut my account down and removed the comment,” Kerr explained in her statement. (RELATED: Biden Resurrects Faith-Based White House Office To Combat Racism, Political Polarization)

“I apologize for having posted something that was intended to be a part of the discussion of racism,” Kerr continued on in her statement. “I will continue to serve as a champion against racism in our schools and in our communities.”

In addition, Kerr provided a copy of an open letter from 2019 in which she addressed football players from Brown Deer High School being called racial slurs by their opponents.

Kerr, who is a Republican-backed Democrat, ended up receiving the second-highest vote count in the primary, and as a result, will move forward to challenge opponent Jill Underly, the Superintendent of Pecatonica Area Schools, in the Apr. 6 general election, according to Kenosha News.