New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Jamal Bryant has apologized after a Tuesday tweet that seemed to dismiss the work ethic of those who make minimum wage.
On Tuesday, the DeKalb County pastor tweeted a comment that has brought some negative response from several Twitter users. His comment sparked backlash for the pastor, who has been the leader at New Birth since 2018. In the now-deleted tweet, Bryant, 49, tweeted: “You can’t have a million dollar dream...with a minimum wage work ethic.”
There were some who mocked the message as classist and particularly thoughtless at this time, considering the millions of essential workers who make minimum wage and have worked throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The television personality and preacher, who oversees a flock of thousands in Lithonia, quickly took down his tweet after the backlash and shared a new tweet stating that he didn’t mean to offend minimum wage workers. He began the tweet by saying the deleted tweet was “taken out of context.”
“During this pandemic, it has been our service workers who kept US going. we owe a debt of gratitude to our workers. The point was that ‘your work ethic must match the size of your dream’..”
After a quick Twitter search, it was revealed the tweet was not an original thought from the Baptist preacher. That message was copied from elsewhere. The sentiment − word for word − was shared in a 2015 tweet from conservative activist Amy Mek.
Whatever the origin, many responded with ire, even at Bryant’s clarifying tweet.
There were some who said they understood the intention behind Bryant’s tweet.
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