For days, the nation has been mired in yet another racial controversy, this time over an emerging rivalry between the predominantly black LSU college women’s basketball team and the predominantly white Iowa team. LSU defeated Iowa State in the NCAA National Championship game. The stars, LSU’s Angel Reese, a black woman, and Caitlin Clark, a white woman from Iowa, have become proxies for this country’s biggest battle between black and white, as it exists. And the first lady, Dr. Jill Biden poured gasoline on the fire.
The racially-tinged controversy over what happened began after Reese posted “You Can’t See Me” to WWE star John Cena on the court. The taunt sparked backlash, with many calling it disrespectful, rude and unsportsmanlike. However, as many fans are quick to point out, Clarke herself has used the same taunt recently, and far from calling it out, she has seen it as both amusing and competitive, even scoring John Cena’s seal of approval.
If it isn’t “Classless” when Caitlin Clark did it, don’t call it “Classless” when Angel Reese does it. Let the women compete, it’s a sport!! pic.twitter.com/lJpS1NId68
– EmmanuelAcho April 2, 2023
Many have called out the double standard as yet another example of black women being denounced for the same behavior as their white counterparts.
But with all this in the background, Dr. Biden, who was present at the championship game, only made matters worse.
Dr. Biden Proposal that both LSU and Iowa should be invited to the White House, breaking with decades of tradition that only the winner of a national championship gets the honor of being invited to the White House.
“I know we’ll have heroes come to the White House, and we always do,” explained Dr. Gill. “So, hopefully LSU will come. But, you know, I’ll tell Joe I think Iowa should come too, because they had such a good game.”
The response on social media was swift and almost negative. Angel herself sarcastically tweeted the article, calling it:a joke.” on Fox Sports“Indisputably the popular show,” went Shannon Sharpe, endorsing President Biden nuclear. “If she didn’t know, she should have known, before she opened her mouth and spouted that stupid script,” Sharpe said.
Sharpe went on to point out how awful the visuals of her comments are, considering the racial component. “Have you forgotten who helped put your husband in the White House?” he added. “You’re going to discover a very serious and difficult lesson in 2024. You’ll be one and you’re done. Play with it if you want to.”
But this is not the first racist moment Biden has experienced. In 2022, she Quote bodegas and tacos for breakfast as a tribute to Spanish diversity, which led to widespread condemnation from the Hispanic community.
So this is not a new behavior. But he’s more than just a latte liberal having racist moments cloaked in white patriarchy.
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
This was not a fringe member of Congress. This was the First Lady of the United States wading into a racial controversy on the other side of the public than her husband needed to be.
The fact that Dr. Biden felt comfortable enough to say something so profoundly disrespectful to her husband’s most important constituency of constituencies speaks volumes about how valued — or underappreciated — we are in this political environment.
The simple truth is: If we continue to give our votes to the Democratic Party without making it work for it, we will continue to be fired and disrespected. The fact that our vote isn’t as competitive as those of other communities means we don’t have the same impact. So we live in an environment where one political party takes us for granted and the other ignores us.
Throughout his political career, President Biden himself has had a history of saying racist things about black people:You are not black“comment.”Blacks are not diverse“comment.”ethnic jungle“comment.”Republicans will put you all back in chains“comment.”Obama is the first African American to be simple, subtle, and cleanComment. And because of corporate media compliance and the lack of competition for our votes, he gets away with it.
It is not in our interest to invest all our political capital in one party when we live in a two-party system. Without the ability to influence both sides, we will continue to be disrespected by both sides without fear of repercussions.
Dr. Biden’s stupid comment is a symptom of a larger problem. Many of the people we have put in power take for granted black Americans, because they fear no political consequences. In life and politics, people do not value what they do not have to work for.
We need to change that if we want to get anywhere in this country.
Darvio Morrow is the CEO of FCB Radio Network and co-host of The Outlaws Radio Show.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
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