Rapper Talib Kweli and some of his more than one million social media followers repeatedly attacked Breitbart News reporter Jerome Hudson with racial epithets on Twitter, but faced no disciplinary action from the platform.
The 40-year-old Brooklyn rapper began his attack on Hudson by writing: “Who’s this clown writing for Breitbart? My coon senses are tingling.”
Hudson responded, “Why are you so quick to resort to name-calling, my brother? Can you not respect me as a man and attempt a civil conversation?”
To which the rapper responded, “No. I do not respect you as a man. You are here to enable white supremacist lies abt ppl of color. You suck.”
Kweli, an ardent Black Lives Matter support, and a featured member of President Obama’s Spotify “Summer Playlist,” was reacting to an article written by Breitbart News’ Sonnie Johnson and tweeted by Hudson.
Over the course of several days, hundreds of snarling Twitter trolls, led by Kweli, repeatedly referred to Hudson as a “coon” and attacked Breitbart.com, calling the news organization a “piece of sh*t”.
Many of Kweli’s followers began responding to comments Hudson made about Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams’s standing ovation-garnering speech at the BET Awards about racial justice and white appropriation of black culture.
Several of Kweli’s followers took umbrage with a Breitbart News Network video, which showed Hudson calling out Williams for decrying racism while ignoring the self-sabotage in black America.
Days later, Kweli’s Twitter trolls were still hurling racist epithets at Hudson.
Much news has been made about Twitter’s policies about harassment, as the social media platform recently suspended Breitbart Tech Editor Milo Yiannopoulos. But weeks after Talib Kweli repeatedly called a Breitbart reporter a “coon” and goaded his goons to relentlessly heckle Hudson, no actions have been taken against the rapper.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson