Hudson has now posted a statement with an apology on his web site:
“I said something stupid. I apologize for it and would apologize in person to anyone hurt by my comments. To those who are understandably offended, you have my deepest apologies and I want you to know that it was out of character for me and those who know me know that to be a fact. This was a thoughtless remark that does not reflect my lifetime commitment to treating everyone fairly and without bias. I apologize to everyone who is offended by this comment.”

from alabama... that explains everything >_<

Uhhhhhh, except the fact that it's way fuckin true. Just look at the statistics. Of course, it's no excuse for the choice of delivery, but he's not wrong.

Dude, you can't say "look at the statistics" without providing any.
And I highly, highly doubt anyone is polling black people about whether or not they can swim. Geez.

Actually, he's running for Congress. He's not a Congressman yet by any means.

*sigh*.....

[...minorities make up a disproportionate number of drownings in the United States every year. In 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are available, nearly 650 children between the ages of 5 and 19 drowned. More than 40 percent of the victims were minorities.

The problem is even worse among black children between the ages of 5 and 19, who are 2.6 times more likely to drown than whites.

Such high rates among minorities, who make up less than a quarter of the U.S. population, signal a systemic problem in the aquatics industry. Experts say minority kids are not learning to swim as often or as well as their white counterparts. They blame a number of thorny issues surrounding the problem — race, class, culture, privilege, poverty — that make it difficult for the industry and minority groups to attack the problem head on.]

-http://www.aquaticsintl.com/2005/oct/0510_minority.html

Just want to mention that while in training to be a lifeguard we were taught by the Red Cross that African Americans have an increased bone density that causes them to sink faster than Caucasians. The article above mentions this as myth, but I taught swimming lessons for years and it generally seemed to be true.

damnit..I'm ashamed I have relatives from Alabama. Good thing is he ain't one.

unbelievable...

Is that why Bush didn't send boats or helicopters to Katrina? ...zing...

Saying something like that isn't a slip of the tongue. It's a clear sign that he was brought up in an environment where that kind of latent racism is normal. But you know.. as a congressman, you'd think he'd have made some effort somewhere in his life to outgrow that.

about 20 years ago, there were two girlfriends in our bunch who had a swimming mishap when we were in the 8th grade. unfortunately, our black friend drowned because they couldn't find her in time. the white girl was found first. *shrugs*

Once again I want to publicly thank my parents for not tolerating any form of racism in the house as I grew up...

Oh yeah, I was born and raised in Alabama. Still live here, too. InvaderSil, you want me to say 'Hey Y'all' to anybody for you?

Even blacks joke about having an aversion to water. Obviously his delivery was off but it's still basically true (in America at least).

Liberals have elevated phantom racism and victimization to a f--king art form. Slavery is long gone, but dems still treat black people like their own precious property, patronizing them at every turn.

There is not ONE thing the Republican fellow said that smacked of racism. He retold a personal observation about race which could turn out to be factually wrong, but in order to detect the supposed maliciousness, you'd have to be brainwashed.

Make no mistake, American liberals, the poor-me victicrat pogrom aimed at blacks the last 50 years has done more to destroy the black family unit and black self-reliance than ANY Klan.

Black Americans for the most part do just fine, IN SPITE OF, not because of, liberal patronization.

"ultimateforce. You are an ultimate tool. You should be ashamed to call yourself an american. Understanding the inner workings of racial and cultural tensions is the corner stone to building a better future in America and the world. Turning your back on or dismissing any information that could help you understand these things is as good as turning your back on yourself and the future of our life on this planet. Shame shame shame." --written by phelixian
http://www.videosift.com/story.php?id=7575#18058

Couldn't have said it better. Thank you phelixian.

Gee, quantum - I'm a liberal, and that was a pretty patronizing rant you just went on there. You don't have a clue as to what I or other liberals really think about racism, so defend the Klan somewhere else.
If the guy has nothing to apologize for, then why did he issue the apology above?

Just thought I'd stop by and mention bone density has absolutely nothing to do about swimming, drowning. Last time I had a physics class it was caused by such mystical forces as "surface area" and "weight". I'm guessing that the south doesn't have that much of an education. Which also explains this stupid myth; these minority groups had no formal teaching about how to swim.

/sorry the Red Cross doesn't really know how to swim either...

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