Judge apologizes for comment about working 'like a regular white man'
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A Tennessee judge is apologizing for a comment he made in his courtroom this week about working “like a regular white man.”
Judge Haywood Barry made the comment in a discussion with a lawyer in explaining why he would not work second-shift hours, the Tennessean reports.
“I’m going to work like a regular white man, as they used to say,” Barry said. “It’s all I can do. I’m not going to be a slave.”
Barry told the Tennessean that he made the comment on Tuesday because of frustration with scheduling. “It was probably a very inappropriate statement,” Barry told the newspaper. “I’m sorry I made it. I’m ashamed of the fact that something like that would even come out of my brain.”
Defense lawyer Jeff Cherry told the Tennessean that the comment is “not indicative of who he is.”
“I have seen him stand up for what is right constitutionally over and over again without regard to race, religion or socio-economic status,” Cherry told the newspaper.
