(Newser)
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Kansas lawmaker Bill Otto brushed off accusations of racism after his "Redneck Rap" video was pulled from YouTube yesterday. The Republican sported a hat describing opossum as "the other dark meat" in the video, in which he slams President Obama's policies and then repeats the hat's slogan, adding, "A little greasy, but hey." Otto says he was merely joking about his Arkansas ancestors' eating habits, but critics say he was obviously referring to the president's race.
"If opossum is the other dark meat, what is the original dark meat he is referring to?" asked Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Democrat. "It is not only thoughtless, but outrageous." Hensley said Otto's bigotry had been apparent in the past, noting that he joked about shooting a black lawmaker earlier this year, and tried to add an amendment to the state budget to eliminate funding for the state advisory commission on African-American affairs.
