Oregon Democrat Governor Hopeful Moves Endorsement from Dem who Repeatedly used ‘N-Word’ in Memoir

Former Oregon House Speaker and current Democrat nominee for Governor Tina Kotek has moved state Senator Jeff Golden’s (D) endorsement from her website’s first page of endorsements to the second.

This move came after Fox News broke that Golden had repeatedly used the “N-word” in his 1971 memoir “Watermelon Summer”.

After the news broke, Oregon Senate minority leader Tim Knopp (R) called on Kotek to reject Golden’s endorsement. “As elected officials, we represent constituents of all backgrounds and Jeff Golden has proven unfit for that job. Southern Oregon deserves better,” Knopp said.

Oregon GOP chairman Justin Hwang had called for Golden to resign, “Anytime you pull back the curtain on Democrats, you see open racism and hate. Senator Golden’s vile commentary toward Black Americans is outrageous and unacceptable. Jeff Golden should resign from office immediately.”

Golden, while having apologized also asked people to read his tone and make their own judgment. He has claimed he was only describing a situation and not using the words himself.

“The book was written by a very passionate 20-year-old who saw the world in very black-and-white terms. We age, but I’ll stand by it as a 20-year-old’s book,” Golden shared.

The book “Watermelon Sumer” was published in 1971 and is about Golden’s summer experience on a Georgia sharecropper farm.

Fox News shared excerpts from the book:

“The Featherfield people are not as politicized as the Muslims, but that may make little or no difference to a white community that perceives the threat of a whole county of uppity n—–s,” Golden wrote on page 20. “And, of course, the only things lower than uppity n—–s are n——lovers.”

“It’s a minor act of defiance to demonstrate that the good-n—– requirement of a skullcap haircut is a thing of the past,” Golden wrote on page 97.

With less than a month until election day, we will see what impact this has if any.