Activist who confronted Clinton: ‘I wanted her to be confronted with that very racist thing she said

[morningfog]

Black voters are the linchpin of Hillary Clinton's strategy for winning the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, and as a result, her campaign has put racial justice issues at the forefront of her agenda. But at an event on Wednesday night, Clinton was vocally confronted by an activist questioning her past support for policies that had a disproportionately negative effect on African Americans.

Ashley Williams, a 23-year-old activist from Charlotte, interrupted Clinton during a private fundraiser in Charleston on Wednesday night. Williams stood and demanded an apology from Clinton for the high incarceration rate for black Americans, and confronted her with the words of a speech Clinton delivered 20 years ago voicing support for the now-debunked theory of "super-predators."

"They are often the kinds of kids that are called 'super-predators,' " Clinton said in 1996, at the height of anxiety during her husband's administration about high rates of crime and violence. "No conscience, no empathy, we can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel."

The last part of the quote was written on a makeshift sign that Williams held up as Clinton spoke to her donors and supporters.

In an interview on Thursday, Williams said that she wanted Clinton to address her past role in supporting the country's current system of mass incarceration, and Williams sought an apology from Clinton for the "damage that she’s done to black communities."

"I thought that quote was important not only because it was her own words, but because that was her pathologizing black youth as these criminal, animal people," Williams told The Washington Post. "And we know that’s not right and we know that’s really racist."

"I wanted her to be confronted with that very racist thing she said," Williams said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/25/clinton-heckled-by-black-lives-matter-activist/

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. Is the atrocious level of systemic racism in America, which lives on to this day,

a main concern of the white Bernie supporters?

Is this why so many white Bernie supporters post stories about this or that POC who happens to either support Bernie or is critical of Hillary?

There seems to be a great deal of posting on this board by what has to mostly be white Bernie supporters about why black people should support Bernie.

To me, it seems, anyway.

Why is that?

Would you like POC telling you white people why you need to be supporting Hillary and that if you dont you must not understand the issues all that well?

[morningfog]

2. This post says nothing about who POC should vote for.

I would never tell any discrete group (other than Democrats generally) who they should vote for. It's not my place to speak to or on behalf of any group.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

3. While this story does not specifically say that, it fits in a whole meme around here.

I dont have to tell you that.


It would be much simpler and better if certain people would just say as follows:

"I dont really have your interests in mind but I think even black people would be better off under Bernie but certainly not worse off under Bernie than Hillary, so why dont you just get in line and do what we are asking you to do so we can all benefit?"

This way they admit they have no idea what the real interest of POC are, but that the economic interests they have in common are best served by Bernie, which I personally believe, by the way.

Make sense?

[roguevalley]

5. given that HRC said and did the things this young woman put herself into jeopardy to

publicize, its weird to me that Bernie people are getting wrath. HRC said and did this. I agree that its deeply racist and given that she deserves the scrutiny, heat and condemnation.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

6. Since when did middle class white folks care about the issues facing POC?

I submit very few ever gave it a thought, from either side of the political aisle, until it became advantageous to do so.

Some did, very few.

[ieoeja]

4. Why wouldn't a PoC tell White people why we need to be supporting X?

This is a political discussion board. We discuss politics.

You have seen, "why do poor, White people vote against their own interest", posted hundreds of times on this site. I have no doubt many of those times it was posted by a person of color. That doesn't bother me in the least.