Posted on 07/13/2019 7:10:43 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
Democrats who have called President Trump and his polices racists are now pointing fingers at each other on issues of race.
Allegations of racial insensitivity are flying between the 2020 Democratic contenders, as well as between House Democrats, raising concerns that internecine squabbles over identity and race are tarnishing party leaders and distracting Democrats from their goal of ousting the president in 2020.
The racially-charged controversies, which have swirled around former Vice President Joe Biden, 76, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), 79, have also put a spotlight on a generational rift within the party.
Longtime Democratic leaders are facing new scrutiny from younger peers over their past records. And they’re being called out for their rhetoric, which in some cases has offended the younger generation of liberals.
Frustrated lawmakers say the backbiting over race has gotten out of control. They want to see it come to an end so that Democrats can return focus to their agenda in the House and defeating Trump at the ballot box.
“It’s damaging to this party and the internal workings of the Democratic Party,” said Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.). “I can tell you it’s not helpful.”
Tensions exploded on Capitol Hill this week after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) accused Pelosi of singling out women of color for criticism, as divisions linger over the passage of a $4.6 billion border bill.
Pelosi has been dismissive of the influence on Capitol Hill held by Ocasio-Cortez and three other rising party stars, Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), the group of freshmen female lawmakers with massive followings on social media.
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks ignited a long-simmering feud with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
CBC members, such as Clay, exploded in anger at Ocasio-Cortez for having “used the race card” and accused progressives of seeking to oust black lawmakers by endorsing their primary challengers.
The progressive group Justice Democrats, which is closely aligned with Ocasio-Cortez, is supporting primary challengers to several longtime Democrats, including Clay and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a Hispanic Caucus member.
Justice Democrats have also considered a challenge to Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a CBC member who is viewed by many as a potential heir to Pelosi.
“Donald Trump has brought the question of race to the forefront of American politics (?), so it’s no surprise that there will be ongoing and continuous and serious and often uncomfortable public discussions on the subject,” Jeffries said. “At the end of the day, our common enemy is Donald Trump, not other members of the House Democratic caucus.”
In the presidential race, Biden’s backers are still fuming over what they view as a dishonest characterization of his record on race by his rivals for the presidential nomination, including Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), 54, and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), 50.
Harris catapulted into the top tier of Democratic presidential contenders after an exchange with Biden at the first presidential debate. The California Democrat called Biden’s remarks about finding common ground with segregationist senators “hurtful” and she attacked him for his decades-old opposition to a federal busing program aimed at integrating schools.
“I think Sen. Harris is out of control,” said Rep. Don McEachin (D-Va.), a CBC member who has endorsed Biden for president.
Booker had previously taken a dig at Biden, saying that the former vice president’s recollection of never having been addressed as “boy” by the segregationist senators was “hurtful” to black people and showed a “lack of understanding” about racial power dynamics.
Biden has slipped some in the polls since the first debate, but he remains the frontrunner in the Democratic presidential primary in part because of his strong support from black voters.
Taken together, the controversies have Democrats shaking their heads over how they have reached the point of attacking one another over race.
“They should be pointing the finger at Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump,” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), the first black woman elected to Congress from New Jersey.
“I don’t think anyone is calling Joe Biden a racist. I don’t think anyone has any reason to call Nancy Pelosi a racist. I think that we can have these bold discussions and people can disagree on certain issues. But this is not helpful, not helpful at all.”
Republicans are relishing the fight, describing it as the culmination of the left’s obsession with identity politics.
“Madam Speaker, welcome to the true nature of identity politics - where you’re accused of being racist for no reason at all, and where intellectually lazy insults are used against you as a way to replace substantive debate of your argument or idea,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said over Twitter.
Some liberals interviewed by The Hill described the fighting as driven by the generational divide, rather than the belief that some in the party harbor racial animus.
“There’s an old guard and a new guard and there’s going to be some friction there,” said one Democratic lawmaker who requested anonymity.
Activism around racial issues has been a hallmark of the ascendant left-wing of the party, led by Ocasio-Cortez.
Cornell William Brooks, the former president of the NAACP and a current professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, said the raging debate is largely the result of a generational divide and a matter of style.
The young liberal lawmakers, Brooks said, have enormous influence on social media and have used their platform to draw attention to what they view as racial biases, whereas veterans of the civil rights movement are focused more on institutional or explicit racial inequality.
“These young lawmakers came of age politically at a moment in the country when there has been unprecedented levels of activism,” Brooks said. “They practice politics as protest, whereas Pelosi practices it through the art of compromise in governing, so this has a lot to do with generation, not just race.”
“For younger voters, they’re used to expressing their thoughts about racial, ethnic, or gender identity implications through Tweeted speech, whereas the older generation is more focused on intent, rather than what is implied.”
It's not activism. It's faux Social Media Outrage.
Social media is being used to amplify extreme radial views and make them appear as if they're the views of the majority mainstream.
The Democratic Media Complex now treats 'The Twitterverse' as a legitimate source of news and public opinion.
The 'Twittervirse' is composed of petulant brats who use twitter mobs to get their way.
And if you want to bring up Trump and his tweets, he's fighting back on their terms.
LOL. The Coalition of Collectives are turning on each other. Stay strong patriots.
live by collectivism, die by collectivism
Pelosi studied coolness erupted as she was walking past reporters to say: “by the way, our caucus is very upset about some of the comments that have come from some of the staff of......” Pelosi stopped short of saying Ocasio-Cortez, adding, “Perhaps you are not aware of what is going on?”
npr.org reported the Pelosi/AOC fight escalated when her chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti,
compared moderate Democrats to segregationists in a tweet that has since been deleted.
Chakrabarti 's tweet suggested two moderate groups, the Blue Dogs and the New Democrats, should be called New Southern Democrats (Democrats who once supported segregation). Chakrabarti added, "They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did [in] the 40s." Chakrabarti continued to argue on Twitter that the moderate wing may not be racist but was still backing policies that could harm communities of color.
Chakrabarti's comments enraged moderates and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., the vice chair of the moderate New Democrat Coalition and a member of the CBC, released a statement condemning the remarks. "To even insinuate that I, or any other member of the New Dems, would promote policies that are racist and hateful or ones that would negatively impact communities of color is deeply offensive and couldn't be further from the truth," Sewell said.
The Chakrabarti/AOC controversy was so widespread that Pelosi addressed the issue directly Wednesday in a weekly closed-door meeting for all House Democrats. She called on members to have "some level of respect and sensitivity" to the "individual experience" that each member brings to Congress, according to a transcript of her remarks provided by a source in the room.
Stalin v. Trotsky
Popcorn is ready everyone!
Maybe I’m missing something, but the only people I see or hear Obsessed with Race is the Democrat Party of Slavery and Hollywood. In fact the Only Racism I have seen in forever was between Black and Brown People.
When they stand together and say, 'We must all stand together', each individual group is only thinking of their own self interest.
Blacks were foolish to allow Hispanics to claim Affirmative Action. All the AA jobs that should have been going to blacks are now being split between blacks and Hispanics (and others) guaranteeing blacks will remain on the bottom rung.
Perceptive.
Stalin diverted all food trains and trucks and ordered topsoil removed in dump trucks so his political opponent ethnic groups would slowly die of starvation by the millions.(American Dem and socialist apologists painted him as kindly old Uncle Joe at that time.)
On Trotsky the History website notes:"He also criticized the new regime for suppressing democracy in the Communist Party and for failing to develop adequate economic planning. In response, Stalin and his supporters launched a propaganda counterattack against Trotsky. In 1925, he was removed from his post in the war commissariat. One year later, he was expelled from the Politburo and the Communist Party...."
Trotsky was in his study and someone came up behind him and killed him with an ice axe.
Exactly. Enjoying the show. Popcorn is ready, ammo is near.
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