Article snippet: Michael Harriot, a writer for The Root, launched an angry column criticizing Buttigieg after watching a 2011 clip of the mayor discussing education problems facing black Americans before he was elected mayor. Buttigieg said: The clip made the rounds on social media as evidence that Buttigieg was clueless about black America. That angered Harriot, who wrote that Buttigieg was a “lucky motherfucker” whose father and mother were professors at elite colleges and got into Harvard and became a Rhodes Scholar and did not understand the struggle facing black people. “I want to be clear: Pete Buttigieg is a lying motherfucker,” he added. After the column went viral on Twitter, Buttigieg surprised Harriot by personally calling him to discuss it. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called a ‘lying motherfucker’ before,” Buttigieg said, when he got on the phone, according to Harriot in a followup column. Buttigieg listened as Harriot argued that institutional racism was the core problem with African-American struggles in America. Harriot also criticized previous Democrat candidates for campaigning in barbershops and black churches but failing to seriously address issues of concern to African-Americans. Harriot admitted that he was not sure whether to believe Buttigieg, after an 18-minute phone conversation, but indicated he appreciated the mayor’s willingness to listen. “The only thing I actually know about Pete Buttigieg is that he is a white man,” Harriot concluded. “But Pete Bu... Link to the full article to read more