Writing to share this with people in the DailyKos community who have been drawn into this story about Shaun and the right-wing false smear (see Update below) to try to take him down as (what they tried to say was) a "white guy faking blackness".
This is a Facebook post from Rai, Shaun's wife and mother to their children. The whole post, as she wrote it, is beautiful and is well worth a complete read.
Excerpts:
My husband, Shaun King, is the most courageous man I’ve ever known. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone more sincerely dedicated to the cause of justice in this country than him-even when his own wellbeing is at stake. For over a year now we have faced death threats so severe that I have all but discontinued social media and now go to great lengths to conceal my location and the location of our children. All because he has made it his business to speak truth to power. That fighting for social good could cause this level of hate, continues to baffle me.
I won’t distract from the very important work he does by rebutting all the ridiculous lies currently circulating about him. I’ve been there for the back surgeries, and pain treatment procedures all stemming from the mob attack he experienced in high school. I was in the car with him during the car accident. I’ve raised the children that have caused our family to fluctuate between 4 to 6 kids in any given year.
Just know this, there is nothing fake about Shaun King. He’s no Rachel Dolezal. What’s white about him is white, and what’s Black about him is Black and always has been from the time he was a child (......) Whatever you think you know about him, you don’t. Whatever you think has been uncovered, hasn’t. (.....) And no amount of ignorance will force him to disclose the details of that private life until he’s ready. He doesn’t belong to you.I am moved by Rai's entire post (again I encourage you, click, read it) and I want to share it here as a testament of her love for her husband, her absolute avowal of his authenticity both racial and human, and absolute support for the work that he is doing in our f'd up world. Thanks.
(UPDATE, 5pm eastern: Thanks for keeping this up on the Rec List where many have seen it. Also, today on MSNBC Joy Reid shared some info that Shaun told her about his family and his origin story. It matches, exactly, what Rai touches on in her post and what Shaun indicated in his own words on Twitter and elsewhere. Hopefully Shaun can now continue doing what he does, with this false smear swatted down. Breitbart and the others should be feeling shame for this one, even though they won't.
(end of diary)