Lucas accused of ‘racist’ social media comments

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For The Tribune

District 69 State Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, is again being accused of racist social media behavior, this time by a Houston surgeon who commented on a Lucas Facebook page post.

The most recent post under scrutiny involves an exchange on Lucas’ Facebook page with Dr. James Carson, a Black orthopedic surgeon from Houston, Texas. Lucas represents portions of Bartholomew County, the western part of Jennings County including North Vernon and the northern part of Jefferson County and the northeastern part of Jackson County including Seymour and Brownstown in the Indiana General Assembly.

On March 23, Lucas, a vocal Second Amendment supporter, posted about an appearance he made on Indianapolis television station WISH-TV in response to President Joe Biden calling for a ban on assault weapons.

In the Facebook post’s comment section, a conversation about race and constitutional rights between Carson and Lucas ensued.

After Carson posted “You know the Constitution was written with people like me as slaves with no rights. Is that how it should be interpreted?” Lucas responded, “The first slave owner in America was black. Blacks captured and sold blacks as slaves. Slavery is vile and repugnant, but has, and is tragically a way of humanity.”

Later in the post, Lucas congratulated Carson on becoming a surgeon and asked, “Did you get any scholarships or financial assistance because of your skin color? Any minority scholarships?”

Carson responded that he was valedictorian and in the honors college.

“I’m not aware of any scholarships available to white people just because they’re white. Somehow that was taken as I was implying that was how he got into school, and there was nothing further from the truth,”  Lucas told The Republic Wednesday. “Those were simple, factual questions with no implications.”

The Indianapolis Star was the first to report the story, which has since gone international and is posted on multiple websites across the United States.

“It’s another race-baiting hit piece by the Indianapolis Star and other news media outlets,” Lucas said adding that he feels like the media is targeting him because he’s outspoken. “…Slavery is vile, reprehensible, and despicable, and I’ve said that multiple times. People don’t want to hear that, they go to ‘every white person is a racist.’ Especially outspoken white people. Racism is horrible.”

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