MISFIRE

Florida State Apologizes for ‘Tomahawk Chop’ MLK Day Tweet

Image showed Dr. King in a football glove performing the widely denounced celebration.

Florida State University’s sports teams have apologized for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day tweet that showed the civil-rights icon wearing a football glove and performing the Tomahawk Chop. The chop is a celebration that’s been widely criticized as being insensitive to Native American culture and banned by several schools. Unsurprisingly, the tweet attracted significant criticism and was pulled after under an hour. The Seminoles later tweeted an apology that read: “In a well-intentioned effort to recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. on this special day, a member of our recruiting staff created a graphic using one of Dr. King's quotes—‘If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.’ The quote resonated with our program’s Do Something mantra. However, in our attempt to more closely connect the message to FSU, we foolishly posted a graphic that was not in line with our intent. We are sorry for missing the mark in our attempt to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy.”