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		</div><h3><span style="color: #808080;"><em><strong>&#8216;How did we end up with these many tone-deaf elected officials?&#8217;</strong></em></span></h3>
<h6><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>South Dakota lawmaker sparks outrage by writing on Facebook businesses should be allowed to turn people away based on race</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>State Rep. Michael Clark, a Republican, made his comment on Monday in response to US Supreme Court ruling in favor of anti-gay baker </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Clark wrote the baker &#8216;should have the opportunity to run his business the way he wants&#8217; and &#8216;if he wants to turn away people of color, then that (is) his choice&#8217;</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Clark later issued an apology, admitting that his comments were &#8216;very racist&#8217; </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>He removed the original post after several commentators questioned it. He took down the post on Tuesday, saying he &#8216;jumped in on it a little bit too fast.&#8217;</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Clark&#8217;s Democratic opponent for the Nov elections said his comment shows that he&#8217;s unfit for office and &#8211; ‘doesn’t understand the rights of people he represents’</strong></span></h6>
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<h6 class="mol-para-with-font"><strong><img class="alignnone wp-image-294248" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Michael-Clark-4.png" alt="Michael Clark 4.png" width="610" height="496" /><br />
State Rep. Michael Clark, a Republican from South Dakota, is backtracking from his view that </strong><strong>businesses should be able to turn away customers based on race</strong></h6>
<p class="mol-para-with-font">A State Rep., Michael Clark, a Republican from South Dakota, in a series of tweets spoke from the heart &#8211; expressing his belief that race based relations has a place in the nation and that businesses should be able to turn away customers based on race &#8211; So far his apologies is not holding water as he tries to stay afloat of the ensuing firestorm.<br />
The South Dakota lawmaker made his comment in a Facebook post on Monday.<br />
State Rep. Michael Clark, a Republican from Hartford, has since apologized for saying businesses should be able to turn away customers based on race, that came after a US Supreme Court ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple&#8217;s wedding.<br />
<a class="class" href="https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/05/s-d-lawmaker-says-businesses-should-able-turn-away-customers-based-race/673317002/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The Argus Leader</a> reported Clark wrote the baker &#8216;should have the opportunity to run his business the way he wants&#8217; and &#8216;if he wants to turn away people of color, then that (is) his choice.&#8217;</p>
<h6 class="mol-para-with-font"><strong><img class="alignnone wp-image-294250" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Michael-Clark-Tweets.jpg" alt="Michael Clark Tweets.jpg" width="686" height="518" />State Rep. Michael Clark, a Republican from South Dakota, in a series of tweets spoke from the </strong><strong>heart &#8211; </strong><strong>expressing his belief that businesses shoul</strong><strong>d be able to turn away customers based on race &#8211; So far his apologies is not holding water</strong></h6>
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<div class="container-3zJLP vertical-2XJd5">A critic of Clark&#8217;s marveled that as an elected official, he was seemingly unfamiliar with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers on the basis of race, color, gender, religion or national origin .</div>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">&#8216;I suspect you&#8217;d be singing a different tune if a business refused to serve a straight/white/Christian,&#8217; the Facebook user wrote.<br />
In an interview with the Argus Leader, Clark said that business owners who have strongly-held beliefs should have the right to deny service.<br />
‘If it’s truly his strongly based belief, he should be able to turn them away,’ Clark said. ‘People shouldn’t be able to use their minority status to bully a business.’<br />
Clark also argued that in a free market economy, if the community does not support a store or a restaurant because of its policies or practices, it would put it out of business by refusing to spend money there.<br />
Clark later issued an apology.<br />
Clark removed the original post after several commentators questioned it. He took down the post on Tuesday, saying he &#8216;jumped in on it a little bit too fast.&#8217;</p>
<h6 class="mol-para-with-font"><img class="alignnone wp-image-294249" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Michael-Clark-3.png" alt="Michael Clark 3" width="686" height="399" /><br />
<strong>Clark made the comment on Facebook Monday after a US Supreme Court ruling in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple&#8217;s wedding. Clark [Photo], later issued an apology.</strong></h6>
<p class="mol-para-with-font">Clark was on record as saying that business owners who have strongly-held beliefs should have the right to deny service. His opponents of the left said he is not fit for office<br />
&#8216;I made some comments here on Facebook, defending a Colorado Baker decision not create a cake for a Homosexual wedding. The comments I made were very racist.<br />
&#8216;I would like to apologize for those comments. Businesses should not be able to discriminate solely based on race, sex, national origin, age, or handicap.&#8217;<br />
&#8216;My comments were made in haste, with the belief that businesses should be able to operate with fewer constraints of a heavy-handed government. Of course, I was wrong, all business should serve everyone, equally.<br />
&#8216;I know I can’t make amends to everyone and not everyone will see this apology. For those that do, I sincerely hope you will accept this apology.&#8217;<br />
The state Democratic Party and Democratic candidates who will be running against Clark in the November elections said his comment shows that he is unfit for office.<br />
‘He doesn’t understand the rights of people he represents,’ said District 9 House candidate Toni Miller.</p>
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South Dakota lawmaker, Michael Clark retracts view, after sparking outrage by writing on Facebook businesses should be allowed to turn people away based on race
