A Democratic senator from Connecticut has come under fire after he reportedly orchestrated a ‘Slave Day’ in high school and used racial slurs during his time at Harvard University.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal was student council president at Riverdale Country School in 1962 when he, with the help of other classmates, orchestrated a “slave day” prompting students to do odd jobs around the neighborhood to raise money for the school, Fox News reported. Following his high school days, Blumenthal attended Harvard University and served as the editor-in-chief of the schools newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, where he used racial slurs at least seven times in his public writing. (RELATED: Liberal Media Downplays That Disgraced LA City Council President Is A Democrat)
The “Slave Day” fundraiser “exemplified the kind of activity which the Council felt most important to the school, the leadership and the participation being completely under the incentive of the students,” Blumenthal’s year book said, according to Fox News. A “large number of Upper School students worked at odd jobs around the neighborhood and helped to raise over two hundred dollars for the drive.”
While at Harvard, Blumenthal repeatedly used the word “negro” seven times in a piece for The Crimson titled “Summer School Project Set for Negro Students,” which discussed options for African-American students to study at Ivy League schools while preparing for graduate programs, according to the article. In the 1960’s there was extensive debate around the term “negro” in relation to its use and whether it was a racial slur, yet by the mid 1980’s it was well understood that it was a a slur, according to Ferris State University.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) part of High School group that held ‘Slave Day’ event, used racial slur repeatedly in college writing https://t.co/NYpXjj1o4C
— Kyle Morris (@RealKyleMorris) October 20, 2022
Blumenthal is currently defending his Connecticut Senate seat from Republican candidate Leora Levy, who deemed his actions “disgraceful.” Serving as the Republican National Committeewoman for the State of Connecticut since 2016, Levy intends to replace career politician Blumenthal’s “far-left policies” that undermine “freedom and security,” her website says.
“In the 1960s, Americans were fighting to integrate and unify our nation, while Blumenthal celebrated ‘Slave Day?’ Disgraceful. I stand with all Americans who have suffered at the hands of bigotry and will always condemn those who fuel hateful sentiments in America,” Levy stated in a Thursday press release obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“As a Jewish, Hispanic woman growing up in the Jim Crow South, I both witnessed and experienced racism firsthand. I remained in the public schools during integration, even as my friends and siblings left for private schools, because I believed segregation was wrong. I wanted to be part of the solution, not the problem. I have always fought for freedom and opportunity for all Americans,” she said.
Levy is just five points behind Blumenthal, with a recent Connecticut Examiner/Fabrizio and Lee & Associates poll showing 44% to 49%, respectively, with a 2.8% margin of error.
Blumenthal did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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