Atlanta mayor: Racist text ‘saddened me that in 2020 this is what we’re still facing’

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) said Friday she was “saddened” to have received a racist text message in response to her efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the city.

“It doesn’t frighten me, but it saddened me that in 2020 this is what we’re still facing in America,” Bottoms told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

Bottoms tweeted the screenshot of a racist text message she received earlier this week, in which the sender said “N—–, just shut up and RE-OPEN ATLANTA!”

“With my daughter looking over my shoulder, I received this message on my phone. I pray for you,” Bottoms tweeted Wednesday.

With my daughter looking over my shoulder, I received this message on my phone. I pray for you.
“Conscientious stupidity or sincere ignorance.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr. pic.twitter.com/dOimv9sdN3

— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) April 22, 2020

The mayor has publicly opposed Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R) decision to reopen businesses like nail salons and barbershops in the state starting Friday. She has urged Atlanta residents to stay home to help stop the spread of the deadly disease.

Bottoms told CNN earlier this week that she would not let the racist message stop her from doing her job.

“We are not cowards. Cowards don’t run for office,” she said.