es347fan
10-27-2007, 05:40 PM
NAACP wants apology from Overstock.com founder
The NAACP is demanding a public apology from Overstock.com founder and CEO Patrick Byrne for saying minority students who do not graduate from high school might as well be burned or thrown away.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Salt Lake City chapter leaders and other community members organized a news conference Friday to call for Byrne to apologize and to refrain from using terms such as "burn" when referring to kids.
Byrne didn't apologize Friday. He said he said nothing wrong and his comment is being distorted.
"It's worse than a cheap shot. It's a lie. Somebody is trying to create the implication I said the exact opposite of what I said in that answer," Byrne said.
Byrne was part of a school voucher debate earlier this month in Provo when he made the comment. He was talking about the failure of public schools when it comes to the graduation rate of minority students, and the critical link between education and success in life. A clip of the debate with Byrne's comment was posted on the Web site YouTube
Jeanetta Williams, NAACP Salt Lake branch president, said she's upset that Byrne would single out minority kids when there are white students who also do not graduate from high school.
"It's saying to them, 'If you can not achieve . . . then you have no worth in society," she said later in an interview.
Jackson & Sharpton to the rescue? (http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7292445)
:woohoo:
The NAACP is demanding a public apology from Overstock.com founder and CEO Patrick Byrne for saying minority students who do not graduate from high school might as well be burned or thrown away.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Salt Lake City chapter leaders and other community members organized a news conference Friday to call for Byrne to apologize and to refrain from using terms such as "burn" when referring to kids.
Byrne didn't apologize Friday. He said he said nothing wrong and his comment is being distorted.
"It's worse than a cheap shot. It's a lie. Somebody is trying to create the implication I said the exact opposite of what I said in that answer," Byrne said.
Byrne was part of a school voucher debate earlier this month in Provo when he made the comment. He was talking about the failure of public schools when it comes to the graduation rate of minority students, and the critical link between education and success in life. A clip of the debate with Byrne's comment was posted on the Web site YouTube
Jeanetta Williams, NAACP Salt Lake branch president, said she's upset that Byrne would single out minority kids when there are white students who also do not graduate from high school.
"It's saying to them, 'If you can not achieve . . . then you have no worth in society," she said later in an interview.
Jackson & Sharpton to the rescue? (http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7292445)
:woohoo: