Been w/ my wife for 20 years Painful that it’s come to this, but here are her words Love u https://t.co/MECW7bNfOL pic.twitter.com/rmRfgu6T6O
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 20, 2015
In a status posted yesterday at about three in the morning, Rai wrote:
“Shaun is a flawed and imperfect man. He has made many mistakes. Just like me and just like you. But regarding his race, he has never lied. Not once,” she wrote. “His story is beautifully difficult, and painful. And I’ve actually encouraged him to tell it publicly because it is a unique expression of this country’s sordid and ridiculous history with race. But it’s his story to tell. On his own terms. When he’s ready to tell it. Out of respect for his mother, and all involved, I hope he continues to let the talking heads talk while he does the real work of holding judicial systems accountable for the 742 women and men they’ve gunned down this year alone.”
She later referred to the infamous Rachel Dolezal.
“There’s no spray tan, no fake Black hairstyles, no attempt to make himself appear any more ethnic than he already does,” she wrote.
Rai, who is a homeschool teacher and mother to her and Shaun’s four children, said that for years the two have received death threats due to the nature of Shaun’s work. She admitted that she is not as courageous as he.
“Many times I have asked him to stop his work. To take a safer, less difficult path for the sake of our family. Because of his strong stance on police brutality,” she said. However, according to Rai, she presents her courage and protest starting in the classroom.
“Today I am going to teach the Black and Brown 1st graders I love so much. It is in the classroom, through the shaping and molding of young minds, that I stage my protest.”