This past week, Michigan’s 13th district congressional representative Rashida Tlaib approached congress member Mark Meadows on an alleged racist remark or gesture he partook in years ago stating: “Just because someone has a person of color, a black person, working for them does not mean they aren’t racist and it is insensitive that someone would even say it is racist in itself and use a black women as a prop to prove it otherwise.”
This then sparked frustrations with Meadow, where he then approached the accusation head-on making comments such as “my grandchildren are people of color” and dragging chair member Elijah Cummings to his side. Cummings then stated he is one of Meadow’s “best friends” and he has never endured any racist acts coming from Meadow. Rep Tlaib then pushed back on her accusations by pretty much saying she does not think he is a racist, but she wanted to bring this incident to the public.
To be honest, it was all a bit confusing to me, but the impression I got from the whole incident was Rashida Tlaib was trying to call Meadow a racist and it backfired. Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what I got out of this debacle.
The media then chimed in and started showing clips from 2012 of Meadow stating “We’ll send (Obama) back home to Kenya or wherever it is” and because of these remarks it’s a no brainer he is clearly racist.
Vox contributor, Jane Coaston tweeted“A reminder: Racism is wrong: Saying, ‘hey that’s racist’ is not, for the record, wrong…. Robbery wrong. Pointing out ‘hey, that dude robbed someone’: not wrong. “
Looks to me the media is trying to pick up the pieces from a wrongful racist acquisition of someone who might not be racist. I say might because I truly do not know if Meadow is racist, maybe he is and maybe he is isn’t. What I can tell you is just because he stated back in 2012 that Barack Obama should go back to Kenya does not constitute him as being racist. Yes, I can see why people think he is racist, but that comment, in itself, is more xenophobic rather than racist. If he said “I don’t want people with that skin color in my country, go away” that would constitute as racist, but he didn’t. And the reason for the comment was not directed towards his skin color or race, but rather his political ideology. He dislikes Obama because of his policies and political stance. Does this constitute as racist? No.
Regarding Jane Coaston’s tweet: Yes racism is wrong, and pointing out “hey that’s racist” is fine, when you have conclusive evidence that someone is racist and your not just trying to smear them. Janes example “robbery wrong: pointing out ‘hey that dude robbed someone’: not wrong.” is obviously correct, but again, conclusive evidence that someone committed the robbery must be presented before they are accused.
When fingers are pointed at people for acts they did not commit or assumptions are made without proper evidence, this is extremely harmful and extremely dangerous. We often hear these days that “X” is racist because they support a policy that supposedly hurts a minority group. Take the border wall for example. Many “progressives” assume those who support the wall are racist. I do not see the evidence for racism. The overall motive for the wall is to keep illegal citizens out so they are not a strain on the taxpayer. In addition to taxes, the motivation for the wall is also to prevent drug lords into the country.
When acts of racism are defined through a political ideology rather than actual discrimination based on race; Racism A: loses its credibility and the actual meaning is skewed, and B: We start to think twice when people -regardless of them actually being racist or not- are accused of being racist.
So Jane here is a better example: Rape wrong, falsely accusing someone of raping someone and ruining their life, also wrong.
We can’t just sling these assumptions around without proper evidence. Racism is horrific and needs to be called out and condemned when committed, but today that term is so loosely thrown around it has serious potential to ruin those who truly are not racist. And, more serious, when the racist accusation is used so often it, at times, loses its credibility and can draw doubts when used.
