Latest news with #YetHereIAm:LessonsfromaBlackMan'sSearchforHome
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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.
New York Post
27-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
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. 5 Jonathan Capehart is a Washington Post opinion columnist. Getty Images 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. 5 Capehart reportedly clashed with fellow editorial board member Karen Tumulty. Lisa Lake 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. 5 According to his new book, Capehart took issue with an editorial criticizing remarks by then-President Joe Biden. Getty Images for Family Equality 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. 5 Then-President Joe Biden described the 2021 Georgia voting law as 'Jim Crow 2.0' — which Tumulty thought was 'hyperbolic.' Reuters '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. 5 Capehart's book has reportedly rankled staffers at the Washington Post. Christopher Sadowski '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.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Washington Post columnist trashes colleagues, says editor robbed him of his humanity in memoir: report
A former member of the Washington Post editorial board accused a colleague of robbing him of his humanity and confessed to going to HR over a line in an editorial he disagreed with, according to a review of his upcoming memoir. Jonathan Capehart wrote he was sent into an "eye-popping rage" that caused him to quit the Washington Post editorial board and fire off a frantic email to HR over a sentence in an editorial concerning Georgia's "Election Integrity Act of 2021," according to a review written by Chronicles Magazine's Mark Judge, who obtained an early copy of the book. Former President Joe Biden had called the Peach State's voting law, which placed restrictions on mail-in voting and gave state officials more control over how elections were run, "Jim Crow 2.0". Major corporate backlash hit the state after the bill's passage, including the MLB pulling the 2021 All-Star game from the state, and the Biden administration launched a lawsuit against the state. Trump Applauds Jeff Bezos' Changes At Washington Post In Rare Media Praise In his memoir, "Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man's Search for Home," Capehart recalls meeting where the Election Integrity Act was discussed with the Washington Post's editorial board that particularly unnerved him, and ultimately led to his quitting the board altogether. "How could it be voter suppression if all these people are coming out to vote?" Washington Post editorial board member Karen Tumulty had allegedly asked. Read On The Fox News App Capehart, who is also an MSNBC host and PBS contributor, wrote that the meeting had so "disturbed" him that he penned an email to everyone present. When the editorial board wrote that Georgia's voter turnout "remained high despite hyperbolic warnings by President Biden and other Democrats that updated voting rules amounted to Jim Crow 2.0," in a 2022 editorial. Capehart wrote that he was sent into an "eye popping rage." The journalist wrote that his anger at the line was so piqued that it ultimately led to him quitting the editorial board in 2023. Msnbc Host Fights Back Tears During Jan. 6 Segment: 'I'm Going To Try To Get Through This' "I was sitting at my desk in the den of my apartment when I read the editorial in the print edition on December 8. A fine, perfectly reasonable piece … Reasonable until I hit the third sentence of the fifth paragraph. I was a tornado of emotions, eye-popping rage, and disbelief. I couldn't stay." Capehart wrote that he emailed his resignation from the editorial board to Washington Post staff and reported his frustrations surrounding the editorial to HR. Capehart is still an opinion writer for the paper. The memoir details a subsequent, contentious, meeting he had with Tumulty in which she apologized for "misunderstandings" between them, but defended the use of the word "hyperbolic" to describe Biden's criticisms of the law. "I do think use of the word 'hyperbolic' is defensible… I have a rule: No one should be called a Nazi unless they were an actual Nazi,' she told me. 'So for President Biden to call the Georgia voter law 'Jim Crow 2.0,' well that's an insult to people who lived through Jim Crow,'" Tumulty allegedly said. Capehart wrote that he felt he was being "punked" by his colleague, and said she "robbed me of my humanity." He wrote that he sat gripping his chair as Tumulty made her remarks, and claimed that she had made a racial situation "worse." "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 it different from hers, was equally valid," Capehart wrote. Reviewer Mark Judge described Capehart's behavior as a "hissy fit" in his review, and said Tumulty's only crime was treating him "like an adult." "You don't go to HR because you disagree with an editorial, grow up," Judge told Fox News Digital. Tumulty told Fox News Digital she had not seen Capehart's book. Capehart did not respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request to article source: Washington Post columnist trashes colleagues, says editor robbed him of his humanity in memoir: report
Fox News
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Washington Post columnist trashes colleagues, says editor robbed him of his humanity in memoir: report
A former member of the Washington Post editorial board accused a colleague of robbing him of his humanity and confessed to going to HR over a line in an editorial he disagreed with, according to a review of his upcoming memoir. Jonathan Capehart wrote he was sent into an "eye-popping rage" that caused him to quit the Washington Post editorial board and fire off a frantic email to HR over a sentence in an editorial concerning Georgia's "Election Integrity Act of 2021," according to a review written by Chronicles Magazine's Mark Judge, who obtained an early copy of the book. Former President Joe Biden had called the Peach State's voting law, which placed restrictions on mail-in voting and gave state officials more control over how elections were run, "Jim Crow 2.0". Major corporate backlash hit the state after the bill's passage, including the MLB pulling the 2021 All-Star game from the state, and the Biden administration launched a lawsuit against the state. In his memoir, "Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man's Search for Home," Capehart recalls meeting where the Election Integrity Act was discussed with the Washington Post's editorial board that particularly unnerved him, and ultimately led to his quitting the board altogether. "How could it be voter suppression if all these people are coming out to vote?" Washington Post editorial board member Karen Tumulty had allegedly asked. Capehart, who is also an MSNBC host and PBS contributor, wrote that the meeting had so "disturbed" him that he penned an email to everyone present. When the editorial board wrote that Georgia's voter turnout "remained high despite hyperbolic warnings by President Biden and other Democrats that updated voting rules amounted to Jim Crow 2.0," in a 2022 editorial. Capehart wrote that he was sent into an "eye popping rage." The journalist wrote that his anger at the line was so piqued that it ultimately led to him quitting the editorial board in 2023. "I was sitting at my desk in the den of my apartment when I read the editorial in the print edition on December 8. A fine, perfectly reasonable piece … Reasonable until I hit the third sentence of the fifth paragraph. I was a tornado of emotions, eye-popping rage, and disbelief. I couldn't stay." Capehart wrote that he emailed his resignation from the editorial board to Washington Post staff and reported his frustrations surrounding the editorial to HR. Capehart is still an opinion writer for the paper. The memoir details a subsequent, contentious, meeting he had with Tumulty in which she apologized for "misunderstandings" between them, but defended the use of the word "hyperbolic" to describe Biden's criticisms of the law. "I do think use of the word 'hyperbolic' is defensible… I have a rule: No one should be called a Nazi unless they were an actual Nazi,' she told me. 'So for President Biden to call the Georgia voter law 'Jim Crow 2.0,' well that's an insult to people who lived through Jim Crow,'" Tumulty allegedly said. Capehart wrote that he felt he was being "punked" by his colleague, and said she "robbed me of my humanity." He wrote that he sat gripping his chair as Tumulty made her remarks, and claimed that she had made a racial situation "worse." "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 it different from hers, was equally valid," Capehart wrote. Reviewer Mark Judge described Capehart's behavior as a "hissy fit" in his review, and said Tumulty's only crime was treating him "like an adult." "You don't go to HR because you disagree with an editorial, grow up," Judge told Fox News Digital. Tumulty told Fox News Digital she had not seen Capehart's book. Capehart did not respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request to comment.
