ACTION ALERT: Tell SC Sen. Jake Knotts Bigotry Has No Place in SC

[Jenn Taylor (Jenn Q. Public)]

Please join me in denouncing State Sen. Jake Knotts for his use of a despicable slur to describe State Rep. Nikki Haley.  CNN reports:

A longtime South Carolina state Senator with a reputation for blunt language used the term “raghead” to describe Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and President Obama during an appearance on a political talk show Thursday.

Haley is of Indian-American descent.

State Sen. Jake Knotts, who backs Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer in the four-way Republican primary battle, made the remark during an interview on “Pub Politics,” a popular online political talk show in Columbia.

“We already got one raghead in the White House, we don’t need a raghead in the governor’s mansion,” Knotts said, according to multiple people present for the broadcast.

Knotts made the comment after discussing Haley’s Sikh background, said Phil Bailey, one of the show’s hosts and the communications director for the South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus.

Haley was raised in a Sikh family but is now a practicing Methodist.

I am calling on all members of the South Carolina SGP group to help me send the message that ethnic and religious bigotry are unacceptable in South Carolina.  It's time to melt the phones and emails of our state senators. Let them know that vile bigots like Sen. Knotts have no place in the South Carolina Statehouse and we expect Knotts to submit his resignation, effective immediately.

Click here to contact Sen. Knotts.

Click here to contact President Pro Tempore Glenn F. McConnell.

Click here to contact all SC state senators simultaneously. (Scroll to the end of the linked page for that option.)

The following are the chairmen of the committees to which Sen. Knotts is assigned:

Senator Daniel B. "Danny" Verdin III (Agriculture and Natural Resources)
Senator Ronnie W. Cromer (Fish, Game and Forestry)
Senator Thomas C. Alexander (General)
President Pro Tempore Glenn F. McConnell (Judiciary)
Senator Larry A. Martin (Rules)

You can also make yourself heard by writing a letter to the editor and linking to this page on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites. 

[Tim Harmon]

I have written a short message to each of these committee chairmen simply asking that Jake Knotts be immediately fired from any position he holds in any of these committees, please everyone write and call the above leaders.

[Tim Harmon]

Reply that I got from Senator Larry Martin (Rules Committee)


Mr. Harmon:

Thanks for your email. I share your great disappointment that any public official would make such comments. Our state has endured more than its share of negative publicity regarding elected officials over the past year. The Senate will not reconvene until next Tuesday, June 15th, for a brief wrap up of the legislative session. It is difficult to predict what actions if any will be taken regarding this incident since Sen. Knotts has reportedly offered an apology for his comments. While it certainly not an excuse, he also remarked that he thought the setting was a satire similar to a Saturday Night live format. My thought is that any actons by either the Senate caucus or the entire Senate will be measured against the Senator's attitude when the Senate reconvenes.

Again, thank you for contacting me.

Best regards,

Larry Martin
From: [e-mail] [[e-mail]]
Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2010 12:46 PM
Subject: Website email from Tim Harmon

Please fire Jake Knotts from the Rules committee, apparently does not understand the rules of common decency after hearing his recent interview on the radio, South Carolina does not need this sort of person in charge of anything, so please just fire him, the voters intend to do so soon. Thank you