Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capeheart quits editorial board over dispute with white colleague: ‘Robbing me of my humanity'
A black Washington Post opinion writer said he quit the newspaper's editorial board over a dispute with a white colleague about a piece concerning Georgia's voting laws that he didn't agree with — accusing her of 'robbing me of my humanity,' according to a report.
Jonathan Capehart, who was the only African American member of the editorial board when he quit in 2023, writes in a new book titled 'Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man's Search for Home,' that he stepped down over a dispute with another opinion editor, Karen Tumulty, the news site Semafor reported.
In his book, Capehart, who remains a columnist at the paper, writes that he clashed with Tumulty over an editorial which took issue with then-President Joe Biden's criticism of a 2021 Georgia voting law.
Biden described the law as 'Jim Crow 2.0' — a characterization that the Washington Post editorial board deemed to be 'hyperbolic.'
That didn't sit well with Capehart, who agreed with Biden's view of the law and was upset that the editorial may make it appear as if he supported the board's position that it was 'hyperbolic,' according to Semafor.
According to the book, Capehart was incensed when Tumulty later did not apologize to him for publishing it. He wrote that he felt additionally put off when Tumulty said Biden's choice of words was insulting to people who had lived through racial segregation in the South.
'Tumulty took an incident where I felt she ignored and compounded the insult by robbing me of my humanity,' he wrote in the book, which was published last week.
'She either couldn't or wouldn't see that I was black, that I came to the conversation with knowledge and history she could never have, that my worldview, albeit different from hers, was equally valid.'
Capehart left the editorial board after complaining about the incident to human resources and other senior figures at the paper, Semafor reported.
Capehart's frustrations were notable enough that after the piece was published, opinion editor David Shipley was asked to meet privately with the Rev. Al Sharpton to discuss the incident and alleged shortcomings in the paper's opinion coverage, Semafor reported.
The claims made by Capehart in his new book have also reportedly rankled Washington Post staffers, according to Semafor.
Capehart's description of the incident in his book as well as a recent discussion that he held with former Biden administration official Susan Rice at a local Washington, DC, bookstore last week has been the subject of internal recriminations at the newspaper in recent days, Semafor reported.
According to two Washington Post staffers, staff have complained privately that the book publicly pitted current colleagues against each other and appeared to run afoul of the Post's editorial guidelines around collegiality, as well as rules that restrict staff from publicly disclosing internal editorial conversations.
The Post has sought comment from the Washington Post, Tumulty and Capehart.
In a statement to Semafor, Tumulty noted that the paper had repeatedly published opinion pieces criticizing Georgia's 2021 voting laws limiting ballot access, but said she would not comment further on the book or the Post's editorial processes.
'I have a very different recognition of the events and conversations that are described in this book, but out of respect for the longstanding principle that Washington Post editorial board deliberations are confidential I am not going to say anything further,' Tumulty told Semafor.
Some current and former staff told Semafor that they felt Capehart's decision to go after Tumulty in a book and on his book tour over an editorial disagreement, as well as the actual description of the incident, was unfair to her.
'Ed board members, current and former, are honor bound not to discuss specific deliberations publicly,' former deputy opinion editor Chuck Lane said in a text to Semafor.
'I can only say that Karen took an unsought leadership role when the paper needed her, and performed it superbly and 100 percent honorably, despite extraordinary health challenges — for which I admire her greatly.'
The Washington Post editorial board has undergone considerable upheaval in the last nine months.
Just before the Nov. 5 presidential election, billionaire owner Jeff Bezos blocked the editorial board from endorsing the Democratic nominee, then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Earlier this year, Bezos overhauled the opinion section so that it would promote 'personal liberties' and 'free markets' — a move that prompted the resignation of Shipley.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Washington Post
8 hours ago
- Washington Post
L.A. Mayor accuses Trump of 'provoking' protests
The Washington Post may use my email address to provide me occasional special offers via email and through other platforms. I can opt out at any time.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Scholarship celebration honors Black college-bound seniors
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — Hundreds gathered at a Bloomington church on Saturday to celebrate Black excellence in the classroom. The ceremony was held at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at Mount Pisgah Baptist Church. It was sponsored by the Mentoring and Providing Scholarships Program, a local non-profit that mentors black students to learn etiquette, financial literacy and public speaking skills. More than $80,000 in scholarships were awarded to Black college-bound seniors for their academic achievements and community service. 'The annual Joint Scholarship Celebration plays an integral role in celebrating the successes of African American students,' Carla Campbell-Jackson, co-founder of MAPS, said. 'The MAPS Program is invaluable for students, and for our community, as we are developing 'real time' leaders and thought partners, who will continue to make a difference locally, and beyond.' Money for the scholarships was gathered with the help of African-American sororities, fraternities, and community-based organizations. MAPS looks to help students prepare for the professional world with important skills such as public speaking, said Shaun Harden, one of the students who received several scholarships. 'MAPS has been really great, especially for professional development. For instance, one of our previous sessions was about public speaking,' Harden said. 'We talked about how we were able to approach the stand and how we were able to address the audience properly, how to avoid filler words, a lot of different proper speaking things that you don't really get to learn other than through experience.' Local philanthropists also contributed to the scholarship fund, which helped raise more money for African American students looking to pursue higher education. Keynote speakers for the event included NAACP Image Award Winner and WMBD Summer Intern Bradley Ross Jackson and Teresa Haley, who shared some information and advice with the students. 'I learned that if you work hard, if you stay strong and determined, and continue to try to do your best and give back to the communities that have supported you, that you will eventually be rewarded in the end,' said Gabrielle Johnson, the president of the Bloomington-Normal NAACP Youth Council. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Juneteenth Scholarship Pageant in Milwaukee, kids 'open up'
The Brief The Northcott Neighborhood House presented its Juneteenth Scholarship Pageant. The event aims to "showcase the best of the city's African American youth." Milwaukee is home to the nation's longest-running Juneteenth celebration. MILWAUKEE - Juneteenth is still two weeks away, but Milwaukee has already begun celebrating. Local perspective The Northcott Neighborhood House on Saturday presented its Scholarship Pageant. The event, held at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center near 17th and Vliet, aims to "showcase the best of the city's African American youth," crowning a Miss Juneteenth, Mister Juneteenth, Little Miss Juneteenth and/or Mister Juneteenth Jr. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android "Our kids have an opportunity to let the world see who they are. It takes a lot to get on stage, to open up, to do a poem, to do a dance," said Tony Kearney, Northcott's executive director. "They've got to let you know who they are as they're doing this – there's no hiding – and that's extremely important. It makes me very proud of them." The backstory Milwaukee is home to the nation's longest-running Juneteenth celebration, having held its first in 1971. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. On June 19, 1865, soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War was over. The holiday observes the date "the people of Texas were informed all slaves are free." In 2021, after decades of lobbying, Juneteenth became a federal holiday. The Source FOX6 News attended Saturday's pageant and gathered information from organizers for this report.