One of the members of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Squad stood up in the U.S. House of Representatives and let loose an epic rant about blacks in America.
It was amazingly unhinged — even for a radical in Congress. There were so many half-truths, falsehoods, exaggerations, laughable misinterpretations of history, and outright lies that even some Democrats must have cringed in embarrassment.
“I rise today on behalf of every black family that has been robbed of a child,” the Massachusetts congresswoman and member of “the Squad,” said. “On behalf of every family member that has been forced to see their loved one lynched on national television. Driving while black. Jogging while black. Sleeping while black. We have been criminalized for the very way we show up in the world. Under the harsh gaze of far too many, my black body is seen as a threat, always considered armed.”
What channel is that “Lynching Show” on? I don’t recall seeing it in the TV Guide.
“Centuries of institutionalized oppression will not be undone overnight, for racism in America is as structural as the marble pillars of this very institution,” the Democrat added. “With the power of the pen we must legislate accountability, dismantle these systems, and move in the direction of justice and healing. The Justice in Policing Act is a critical step forward, and I applaud the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus.”
And if we could agree on the systems that need to be dismantled, that would be a step forward. Except the “structural” racism of which she speaks was legislatively and constitutionally undone decades ago. Before the law, blacks are as “equal” as they’re going to get.
The law is not the problem. Where there are racial insensitivity and ignorance, there is inequality. That is a cultural shortcoming and nothing that can be fixed legislatively — unless Presley wants to go all North Korean on us and force us to think a certain way. Racist acts are already punishable under the law.
What Pressley is demanding is not equality before the law but equality of outcomes.
The fights we’re in today are old fights, but I remain hopeful.
We are in a moment of reckoning, and our movement is strong, sustainable, and focused on bringing about the systemic change our communities so desperately need. pic.twitter.com/dErEUiJyOy
— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) June 26, 2020
She doesn’t want equality of opportunity. She wants “systemic change” that will build in legal guarantees that blacks and whites will be equal in income, housing, jobs, and, one supposes, representation in Congress and the courts. Activists like Pressley don’t want to wait for the natural evolution of society, where gradualism and incrementalism would rule. The only way for the government to mandate that kind of “equality” is to enforce a strict quota system.
Other nations with multi-racial, mutli-religious societies reserve places in the legislature, seats on the bench, even mandated wealth distribution to each race and religion. It never works. So we have that to look forward to if Pressley gets her way.
That’s what reparations are all about — a massive transfer of wealth in payment, largely from one race to another, for the sins of those who were here before many of us and our families. Can anyone really judge a race? Not in any justice system we’re familiar with or would recognize as “American.”
Her notion of a “reckoning” is biblical in its allegory. As a practical matter, it’s payback. And she says as much. There’s a suggestion of extortion in her words that she would deny, but is there if anyone chooses to see it.
Pressley, AOC and the rest of the radical members of the Squad will have President Joe Biden’s ear if he’s elected. Contemplating such does not lead to peaceful sleep.
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