Kandi Burruss recently stirred up a heap of drama following her racially-charged speech about Apollo Nida on the season premiere of the Real Housewives of Atlanta.
The soon to be ex-husband of her cast-mate and friend Phaedra Parks is currently serving an eight-year sentence.
Nida was convicted of bank fraud, signalling a return to the criminal behavior he was previously jailed for prior to meeting Parks.
Even though the man in question is a repeat offender, Kandi Burruss felt it necessary to share that he probably wouldn’t have received such a harsh sentence if he weren’t black.
In response to backlash caused by her comments, Burruss used her RHOA blog to defend herself.
TOMORROW: #RHOA and @Kandi are back!
Will you be tuning in? pic.twitter.com/ZtIsUg7eYi
— Real Housewives ATL (@RHOABravo) November 9, 2014
Said Burruss, “Some people felt that I was pulling the race card when I said, ‘I feel the justice system is harder on black men.'”
She explained that she hadn’t meant that Nida should avoid punishment and conviction for his bank fraud charges.
“I don’t want you to think that I feel like Apollo only went to jail because he was black,” said Kandi Burruss. “I definitely feel that if you break the law, you should have to go to jail and do your time for the crime.”
Instead, Kandi stated that she felt that the harsh nature of his sentence was indicative of inherent racial bias against black men.
“For example, I have a family member who committed a non-violent crime and got 13 years in prison. He did his time, came home, and after a few years he committed another non-violent crime and now he’s serving over 20 years in prison. There are murderers and rapists who have gotten less time.”
Kandi Burruss also believes that the treatment of felons and repeat offenders creates a vicious cycle that contributes to a higher recidivism rate.
As for her relationship with Apollo Nida’s ex Phaedra Parks, Burruss admitted that she’s worried about how her fellow cast-mate feels about her comments.
“It’s very hard. Phaedra is always assuming I’m siding with Apollo, which isn’t true. Todd and Apollo became pretty good friends, so I would say he takes Apollo’s side a lot.”
Do you think Kandi Burruss “played the race card” or is there a legitimate point to her argument?