Interrupted by #BLM, Hillary Clinton Displays Her Supremacist Swagger: Again | #BlackLivesMatter on Blog#42
A BLM activist interrupted Hillary Clinton at a meeting with donors on February 24th, and she didn't handle it well. Maybe not so surprisingly, given media protection of Hillary Clinton thus far, her first encounter with Black Lives Matter last summer received very little written criticism, or any public critiques, really, from media pundits, even though most shared the videos.
So, here we are today, watching a new video of Hillary Clinton being interrupted by a Black Lives Matter activist and giving her that Hillary swagger I wrote about after her first encounter. Watch:
Clinton's candid reaction was in very poor form. First of all, and I mean, this is so, um, basic, do not read what is on a sign someone is holding up in front of you unless you're prepared to address it! Clearly, Clinton wasn't ready or willing.
Second, when you finally realize what the words mean, don't just dismiss the person in front of you and then go right back into your spiel about the very topic that person interrupted you about. Then, when your supporters call out to the activist, calling her rude, you should immediately stop them and let your supporters know, firmly, that they must be tolerant of people's legitimate concerns. Worst of all, though, saying "O.K., back to the issues," proves every accusation every Black person has ever leveled against Clinton for being hypocritical and indifferent to racial issues. How hard would it have been to show some respect and sensitivity?
This brings me to all the whisper campaigns about Bernie Bros... I'll admit up front that I've never actually met one and that I have doubts about this "phenomenon" being as prevalent as some say it is. While one can quibble about Bernie Bros, no one can quibble about Bernie himself ever having displayed the kind of swagger Hillary Clinton displays with Black protesters whenever she meets them. While no one should blame a candidate for the behavior of his or her supporters, especially if they say or do nothing to elicit bad behaviors, one can and should make hay of candidates who, themselves, behave that way.
Such a reaction from Clinton, this close to the South Carolina primary, just goes to show how cocksure she is that she owns the Black vote, and how little she thinks of that part of the electorate. I mean, really, how difficult would it have been for her to stop for a couple of minutes and answer the activist? It would have been the smart thing to do.
Oh, and about the pundit class reacting and rushing to write little blurbs about this? Zip! I see some have simply tweeted out their publication's reports, with no further comment, while many haven't posted anything about this incident. When Bernie Sanders was confronted at Netroots, the entire internet was broken for days on end. Double standard much, pundits?
The Clintons, both of them, in spite of what any pundit says, have always had a very spotty track record with handing race matters. This campaign is no different and this is only one of many symptoms of Hillary Clinton's problem with race. She couldn't bring herself to agreeing in a 2014 town hall that the GOP's treatment of our president has been racist, and she is allowing campaign surrogates to engage in racially divisive activities. The Clintons have a race problem and it needs to be publicly aired out.
Nuff said.
Notice to readers: My family is going through a crisis. Please click through to read my personal appeal Thank you.
Black Lives Matter New Hampshire meeting videos:
https://youtu.be/eY9zpv7nZYo