Conservative commentator Candace Owens hit out at American Booksellers Association CEO Allison Hill for reportedly suggesting that her book, "Blackout: How Black America Can Make its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation," is racist, according to The Daily Wire.
In a fiery tweet, Owens called for an apology from both Hill and ABA.
What are the details?
The outlet reports that the ABA accidentally promoted Owens' book in July, inadvertently conflating Owens' book with another bearing a similar name.
"In July, the organization mistook a social-justice-themed teen romance titled 'Blackout,' for Candace Owens' best-selling book ... sending out a cover image of Owens' book to approximately 750 stores" the outlet reported.
Outraged shop owners immediately railed against the ABA and Hill for promoting the book, which prompted Hill in early August to issue an apology for what she referred to as a "serious, violent incident."
"It was a terrible mistake with terrible racist implications," Hill said at the time in her letter to impacted bookstores. "However, based on our investigation and the demonstrated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitment of these individuals, we have no reason to believe that the action was malicious in intention. The employees are very apologetic and very committed to vigilance going forward. They have been held accountable and have agreed to training, both on procedures as well as on DEI, and we have added layers of checks and balances to this process."
What is Owens saying now?
In response to Hill's statement, Owens on Wednesday took to Twitter and called for a public apology from the association and its CEO.
She began, "I am calling for a public apology from @ABAbook and Allison Hill. It is an act of unspeakable, explicit racism for a white woman to send around an e-mail slandering and denigrating an autobiographical book from a black woman who came from nothing. We cannot accept this racism."
"For those of you that don't know, the CEO of American Bookseller's Association (@ABAbook) recently sent around an email, apologizing for promoting my book and labeling my book as racist. This is the CEO, Allison Hill, who sees no irony in calling a black woman racist."
I am calling for a public apology from @ABAbook and Allison Hill. It is an act of unspeakable, explicit racism for… https://t.co/t2eKx01aus
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) 1628712200.0