Following an tweet of by Sexyy Red, the rapper has apologized to Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King.
On Monday, the St. Louis artist retweeted an AI photo of the late civil rights leader and herself face-to-face in a nightclub. She also uploaded a picture of herself in a revealing red dress walking next to him during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
While Sexyy Red found it innocently funny, King’s youngest child responded to the tweet in disappointment.
“This is intentionally distasteful, dishonoring, deplorable, and disrespectful to my family and my father, who is not here to respond himself because he was assassinated for working for your civil and human rights and to end war and poverty. Please delete,” Bernice King wrote.
While some tried criticizing Sexyy Red, Bernice said, “Please don’t project your thoughts onto me. I don’t believe Sexyy Red to be a ‘degenerate,’ ‘ghetto,’ or ‘trash.’ I have spoken out in the past about the use of and comparison to either of my parents to denigrate other people.”
“I just don’t understand this type of use of my father’s image (on #MLKDay, no less), in a way that does not convey what we know to be true about his service and sacrifice. Even if you disagree with him or with his tactics or even believe things said about him by people who hated him, why do this?” she added.
Upon discovering the picture was distasteful, Sexyy Red responded, “You ain’t wrong, never meant to disrespect your family my apologies. Just resposted something I saw that I thought was innocent 🙏🏽.”
“Thank you for your apology, which I sincerely accept. Please know that it was not my intention that you be denigrated. I value you as a human being. I hope you understand my concerns about the image,” Bernice shared.
“I know that my father has become a bit of a caricature to the world and that his image is often used with no regard to his family, his sacrificial work, or to the tragic, unjust way in which he died (a state-sanctioned assassination).
Unfortunately, I regularly challenge the disregard.
I earnestly wish that people would imagine what it would feel like to see their deceased, murdered father repurposed for party fliers, unjust legislation, etc.
All the best to you, young lady,” Bernice concluded.
