WASHINGTON – Fred Hiatt, an Editor of the Washington Post, has called for the resegregation of America, doubling down against criticism the Post has received over columnist Richard Cohen.
Hiatt’s comments follow an editorial by Cohen that attempts to explain why the GOP and tea partiers won’t like Bill de Blasio, with Cohen stating that “People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York — a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children.” Hiatt responded that “I think we can all agree that seeing kids whose parents are of two different races makes us all vomit, even if it’s just a little bit,” subsequently denying that this could be considered in any way racist.
“Our problem isn’t interracial children, per se, it’s anyone who’s slightly different from what we perceive to be ‘the norm’ said Hiatt, who noted that Cohen also said “Should I mention that Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?” Hiatt added: “So this really is about everyone that’s not white and straight and married to someone who’s also white and straight, not just people who are ‘unequally yoked’.”
Cohen has been criticized before for his columns on race, having previously described the hoodie Trayvon Martin wore when he was killed as a “uniform,” recently discovering that slavery may not have been wholly positive for black people after watching 12 Years a Slave, or explaining that stores should be allowed to deny service to black customers.
Following the Trayvon Martin column, Hiatt wrote an editorial defending the Post running it, and said in an e-mail to the Huffington Post: “If I had not published the column, just as many people would be asking why the Post can’t tolerate diverse points of view.” He repeated this stance today, adding: “People attacking us for puking on mulatto babies need to be more tolerant of diversity – in this case, the diverse range of reactions that occur when people see mulatto babies. The unconventional reaction is to not throw up all over the child, but the conventional one is very firmly puke-based.”
Hiatt did acknowledge that 87 percent of Americans actually approve of interracial marriage, but that the 13 percent were the ‘conventional’ ones Cohen was alluding to, and “shouldn’t be considered a small band of racist, reactionary white people who – like Richard Cohen – who can’t stop vomiting on children if their parents are different colors. It’s just how they were born”. Hiatt added that Cohen “shouldn’t be held responsible for biology”.
Cohen has remained relatively quiet in the wake of the new furor, but did tweet: “Unflushed public toilets / maggots in your soup / biracial kids #pukemakers.”
