Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

marmar

(76,985 posts)
Sat Mar 9, 2019, 11:11 AM Mar 2019

Who's Afraid of Women of Color in Congress?


(Truthdig) Although Congress over time has become more diverse and more representative of the demographics of the nation, the 115th Congress was still mostly white, older, male and Christian. Then, last November, a record number of women and people of color—and especially women of color—ran for election and won office, largely in response to the white nationalist resurgence. The most visible members of this new source of diversity—young, radical, black and brown women, with none of the boys club backing or Wall Street support their congressional colleagues rely on—are fast becoming the most outspoken leaders and the biggest targets of anger and resentment.

Who’s afraid of New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar, Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and other congressional women of color? It turns out that President Donald Trump is, along with many rank-and-file Republicans. A large part of the Democratic Party is, too.

Perhaps no one embodies the anxieties of the establishment as completely as Ocasio-Cortez. The 29-year-old represents so many things Trump’s supporters fear. She is a young woman. She is brown-skinned. She espouses the politics of a long-ignored liberal and progressive faction in the nation. And she is unafraid. Her introduction of a Green New Deal (GND) resolution has offered great fodder for Republicans, who have done everything they can to mischaracterize it. Trump, in his Conservative Political Action Conference speech, pretended the GND would mean “[n]o planes, no energy. … When the wind stops blowing, that’s the end of your electric[ity].” And Republicans this week plan to slam the resolution as “nonsense on stilts” and a “vehicle for socialists policies that have nothing to do with climate change.”

But it hasn’t been enough to attack her policies. Ed Rollins, chair of a political action committee backing Trump, earlier this year called Ocasio-Cortez “the little girl who wants to do Reagan, pre-Reagan economics and 70 percent taxes.” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway echoed this type of infantilizing comment, calling Ocasio-Cortez a “29-year-old congresswoman who doesn’t seem to know much about anything when you ask her basic concepts about the economy, or the Middle East, or military funding.” Most recently, Republican billionaire Barnard Marcus’s group—unironically called the Job Creators Network—funded billboards in New York City claiming that Ocasio-Cortez considers herself “the boss” because of her backing of the GND. This naked attempt at emasculating the public plays on the misogynist vulnerabilities of Trump’s base. ..........(more)

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/whos-afraid-of-women-of-color-in-congress/




1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Who's Afraid of Women of Color in Congress? (Original Post) marmar Mar 2019 OP
It's pretty obvious with all the white-splainin' going on that they're scared shitless of these WOC! InAbLuEsTaTe Mar 2019 #1

InAbLuEsTaTe

(24,110 posts)
1. It's pretty obvious with all the white-splainin' going on that they're scared shitless of these WOC!
Sat Mar 9, 2019, 11:37 AM
Mar 2019

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»Who's Afraid of Women of ...