Topeka: A Republican congresswoman apologised on Thursday for telling a gathering in her district that
her party was still searching for a "great white hope" to
stop the political agenda of President Barack Obama, who is
the country`s first black president.
Rep Lynn Jenkins used the phrase during an August 19
forum as she discussed the Republican Party`s future and tried
to reassure members that the party has promising young
leaders. Someone in the crowd recorded video of the event in
Hiawatha, about 105 kilometres northeast of Topeka, and gave
it to the Kansas Democratic Party.
"She apologises if her words have offended anyone,"
Jenkins spokeswoman Mary Geiger told AP. "That was not
the intent in any way, shape or form."
At an event at University of Kansas in Lawrence,
Jenkins denied she was speaking in racial terms and said she
meant only that the Republican Party needs "a bright light."
"I was unaware of any negative connotation, and if I
offended anybody, obviously, I apologise," Jenkins told the
Lawrence Journal-World. Jenkins was not available for comment
today morning.
The phrase "great white hope" often is associated with
pre-civil rights-era racism and is widely believed to have
entered usage in the US when boxer Jack Johnson, who was
black, captured the heavyweight title in the early 20th
century.
Bureau Report
