'Our inner n***** came out today': Arizona student Erika Escalante fired after tweeting racist cotton field photo

A 20-year-old Arizona student lost her job after she sent a racist tweet that quickly went viral. 

Over the weekend Erika Escalante tweeted a photo showing her and a friend in a cotton field with the caption 'Our inner N***** came out today.'

The Spanish linguistics major said that it was meant to be a joke, but thousands of Twitter users disagreed with her, sparking a huge backlash. 

'I deleted it, but it was much too late,' she told KSAZ. 

 

Fired: Erika Escalante (above) lost her job after she sent a racist tweet that quickly went viral, sparking a huge backlash

 

The Spanish linguistics major sent the above tweet and says it was meant to be a joke, but thousands of Twitter users disagreed with her

A screen grab of the tweet she sent began circulating all over social media, so she decided to contact her supervisor's at Isagneix, where she was a paid inte, to notify them of what happened. 

'We were shocked when we saw, it's not what you would expect,' Kevin Snyder, a representative for the company that makes health and wellness products, told KSAZ. 

'When I looked at it, I immediately knew we had to make a swift action.

'It was unanimous, it is a complete conflict of who we are, and what we stand for as a company, so within roughly two hours we ended our employment with her.'

The company also tweeted this response about Escalante's tweet: 'We too find this tweet offensive & we are shocked. This does not reflect our values & culture. The inte is no longer with us.' 

Escalante, who attends Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Arizona, said she has deleted all of her social media accounts. 

 

Kevin Snyder, an Isagenix representative, said her tweet 'is a complete conflict of who we are, and what we stand for as a company, so within roughly two hours we ended our employment with her'

 

The company also posted the above message about Escalante's tweet

'I apologize fully, I take full responsibility for what I have done, It's just not ok,' Escalante told KSAZ.

'I want to apologize to whoever I offended, I am sorry if you took this to heart, I am so sorry, I didn't mean it at all, it was a mistake, that's all I can say.

'...I do know better, my parents tell me you need to watch what you post, everybody tells me you need to watch what you post, and it was just a lack of my better judgment. I was not thinking at all.' 

Escalante said that someone has created a different Twitter account using her photo with a similar user name, and is sending racially charged tweets.