An elected official in Arizona has come under fire for a controversial comment she posted on Facebook after a violent rally involving white-nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend.
On Saturday morning, Facebook user Shaun McClusky shared a Politico article with the headline, "POLITICO BREAKING – BREAKING NEWS: Trump denounces 'hate' and 'violence' following Charlottesville clashes."
Ally Miller, Pima County supervisor, using her personal Facebook account, commented, "I'm sick and tired of being hit for being white....It is all about making us feel like we need to apologize. I am WHITE-and proud of it! No apologies necessary."
Miller serves as the supervisor of District 1 in Pima County.
According to the Pima County Government website, county supervisors are "responsible for steering public policy in the region." They are elected to four-year terms and have financial responsibilities that include approving the county budget.
Miller is defending her comment and calls it identity politics but opponents are not letting this one slide by.
During a phone interview, Miller tells James T. Harris from radio station 104.1 KQTH that the backlash is surprising.
The Facebook comment post is as follows:
"I am sick and tired for being hit for being white. It is all about making us feel like we need to apologize. I am WHITE - and proud of it! No apologies necessary." - Ally Miller, Supervisor, District 1
She says, "What I find most astonishing is how so many of us assume any specific condemnation of the white supremacy was even needed. Of course, we all condemn white supremacists and hate speech."
According to Miller, she says someone said she "portrayed herself as a victim of anti-white racism."
Miller says that's certainly not what she meant. "It might be their interpretation but what I was referring to was the simple minded identity politics, and I think the American people are rejecting those politics."
Other Pima County Supervisors are stepping in.
In a letter written by Richard Elias, he says, "These comments further legitimize the immoral ideology of white supremacy that is on the rise in our country."
"Nobody is asking you to apologize for being white." Elias calls on @SupervisorAlly to apologize to community for "white & proud" comment. https://t.co/NgWBabyIwB
— Jennifer Martinez (@Jennymartineztv) August 14, 2017
"No one is asking you to apologize for being white, but you owe it to your community to apologize," says Elias.
Supervisor Steve Christy backed Miller up. He says, the post using her personal Facebook account to comment on a shared article "Unfortunately, gave her detractors the fodder they have been waiting for - an opportunity to pounce and to denounce her."
The violence and resulting deaths in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend are deplorable and shocking. Anything resembling activity involving or utilizing the putrid smell of "White Supremacy", "Neo-Nazism", and the "KKK" should and must be condemned in the strongest of possible terms. There is no place in our American society for any kind of violent and racist behavior.
Supervisor Ally Miller's post using her personal Facebook account to comment on a shared article unfortunately gave her detractors the fodder they have been waiting for - an opportunity to pounce and to denounce her.
All Americans must join together as one and reject violence as a tool in the arena of public discourse.
Steve Christy, Supervisor, District 4
"I certainly will not be ashamed for the color of my skin," says Miller.
