After writing an open letter attacking CNN journalist Don Lemon‘s solution to the black America problem, Russell Simmons is now on the defensive.
The video shows an actress portraying abolitionist Harriet Tubman with her “massa” so she can blackmail him in order to operate the Underground Railroad.
Russell Simmons later issued an apology on his website Global Grind called “I Get It and I Respect It… The Harriet Tubman Video Has Been Removed.”
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“In the whole history of Def Comedy Jam, I’ve never taken down a controversial comedian. When my buddies from the NAACP called and asked me to take down the Harriet Tubman video from the All Def Digital YouTube channel and apologize, I agree.
I’m a very liberal person with thick skin. My first impression of the Harriet Tubman piece was that it was about what one of actors said in the video, that 162 years later, there’s still tremendous injustice. And with Harriet Tubman outwitting the slave master? I thought it was politically correct. Silly me. I can now understand why so many people are upset. I have taken down the video. Lastly, I would never condone violence against women in any form, and for all of those I offended, I am sincerely sorry.”
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The video has since been taken down from the All Def Digital YouTube page but is still circulating the internet.
“I’m grossly disappointed in you and I have thought of you as one of our great leaders practically all of my life,” one reader said on the post’s comments. “The fact that you thought it was funny in the first place, wow Uncle Russ. Wow.”
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Nicole Tinson is a HBCU Buzz Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter @NIKKI_T
