http://www.now.org/press/12-95/tb-3.htmlPROBLEMATIC STATEMENTS AND ANGRY RESPONSES STATEMENTS MADE BY OR ATTRIBUTED TO TAMMY BRUCE
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In a chaotic Nightline segment Oct. 4, the day after the verdict, transcripts show Bruce said, "What we need to teach our children is ... not about racism, but is about violence against women."
In an Oct. 11 statement carried by wire services and major TV networks, Bruce said her message to O.J. Simpson was, "You are not welcome here, you are not welcome in this country, you are not welcome on our airwaves, you are not welcome in our culture."
In an Oct. 18 profile in the L.A. Times, Bruce was quoted as saying that her domestic violence message provided "a needed break from all that talk of racism."
In a Nov. 17 story the Associated Press reported that, in refusing to appear on a TV talk show devoted to the Simpson case, Bruce told a producer she did not want to "argue with a bunch of Black women" and made other inflammatory comments that Bruce told the AP were inaccurate or taken out of context.
RESPONSES
Leading national civil rights leaders contacted NOW leaders expressing anger and betrayal about how these statements were being received by people of color.
Local coalition partners, particularly in the fight against the anti-affirmative action ballot measure in California, took NOW to task publicly for the statements.
Chapters in rural areas of one state reported receiving calls from Aryan Nation groups saying, "Way to go!"
An African American state legislator who had been a strong ally refused to attend a NOW event because it might jeopardize her bid for Congress.
One regional coordinator said all six states in her area received complaints that NOW was racist over the statements.
One state leader said the coordinator of their hotline quit over the deluge of hostile phone calls protesting the statements.
A chapter leader in a major city diffused a planned picket of NOW's offices over the statements.