Last night, Tuesday June 9th, It was announced that Hillary Clinton claimed the
Democratic presidential nomination after winning the California, New Jersey and New Mexico primaries. Although Bernie Sanders is sticking it through and will continue his campaign, it seems like he can only rely on being a write-in candidate. Even though the mainstream media will soon forget Senator Sanders, his movement and the fact that he never dropped out is extremely admirable, and he will always be remembered that way. Going back to Clinton, the many headlines for articles, Facebook statuses and Twitter posts include phrases such as, “First woman to become a major-party presidential nominee” or “Hillary makes history for women,” and saying that women were granted the right to vote 96 years ago in 1920. While it’s great that a woman has a very good chance of becoming our president, it’s sad to see that this looks like a whole lot of white feminism.
People are ignoring the fact that all black women couldn’t vote until 1964, but somehow Hillary is being looked at as representation for all women and an advocate for equal rights. We all know her past is not consistent at all with what she preaches now, conveniently when she needed black and women voters the most. On numerous occasions when she had been asked why she keeps changing her beliefs, she refused to acknowledge her contradictions and stated in one of the democratic presidential debates, “I have been very consistent over the course of my entire life. I have always fought for the same values and principals.” In 1996, she supported her husband Bill as he signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriage. She continued this ideology until she stated in 2013 “I support marriage for lesbian and gay couples. I support it personally and as a matter of policy and law,” when she said the opposite just three years ago. She kept changing her opinions on Wall Street, universal healthcare, and more.
In 1964, Hillary was a proud Republican actively campaigning and voted for Barry Goldman for the presidential election. The Senator vowed to overturn the Civil Rights Act and his plan was to to re-segregate the country. In 1996, she called the black youth with a criminal background “super predators” with “no conscience, no empathy.” Instead of trying to comprehend the poverty and social rejection many of these kids have gone through, she suggests we have to “bring them to heel.” A Black Lives Matter Activist called Clinton out on her racist comment at a fundraiser back in February. Ashley Williams asked for an apology on behalf of the black community, and it wasn’t until later that Clinton did apologize, but Ashley was quickly removed from the scene after being shushed multiple times. When escorted away, Hillary says, “Now back to the issues,” implying what Ashley was talking about wasn’t a real issue.
Hillary Clinton’s big win is not at all helping women of color, as she grew up a privileged white republican as well as married and supported one too for most of her life.
