Race politics. It’s the lifeblood of the modern Democrat Party.
Look no farther than Ayanna Pressley for proof. The freshman Member of Congress thinks it’s her place to demand that all other minority leaders march in lockstep with her views. Yet, the truth is, she’s nothing more than a bully who parrots the talking points of rich, white liberals.
Congresswoman Pressley made waves recently when she presumed to declare that “we don’t need brown faces that don’t want to be brown voices. We don’t need black faces that don’t want to be black voices.”
Pressley’s comments raise important questions about minority political representation that should not be dismissed out of hand. For instance, what does it even mean to be a black or brown voice?
Pressley clearly thinks she possesses the ultimate truth: black and brown voices that aren’t mindlessly echoing her radical left-wing ideology don’t count. Ironically, though, Pressley’s idea of a black voice is one that promotes a political program devised by and for white liberals.
Over the past decade, white liberals have become thoroughly radicalized on race issues. Matthew Yglesias, co-founder of the left wing website Vox, has deemed this phenomenon “The Great Awokening.” As Yglesias writes, “on key measures of racial attitudes, white liberals’ opinion has moved to the left of where black and Latino opinions are.”
White liberals support unfettered immigration and believe in the benefits of diversity without assimilation at significantly higher rates than blacks or Hispanics do. That shouldn’t be surprising, since illegal immigration causes the greatest harm to black and Hispanic communities, where workers are more likely to be displaced or see their wages fall due to competition from unskilled, poorly-educated illegal aliens.
White liberals also call racism the greatest barrier facing the black community at higher rates than African Americans themselves believe. While 48 percent of white Democrats self-identify as “liberal,” the same is true of just 28 percent of black Democrats, who are actually slightly more likely to identify as conservative.
When social justice warriors such as Representative Pressley talk about black voices, they aren’t speaking to the black community; they’re appealing directly to their white liberal base.
Pressley and her close comrade, self-identified socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are among the highest-profile beneficiaries of the leftward shift among white liberals. Though Pressley and AOC’s primary election wins against long-serving Democrats are often attributed to demographic change, the two succeeded in large part thanks to their appeal to affluent white liberals.
Pressley, who claims to speak with a “true” black voice, represents a district in Boston in which the majority of voters are white. AOC, who now vocally opposes gentrification, beat high-ranking Democrat Rep. Michael Crowley in the gentrified neighborhoods of Queens, New York, but was crushed in the poorer Hispanic neighborhoods of her native Bronx.
According to The Hill, an aide to one senior Democrat recently said that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is “only a woman of color when it’s convenient. None of the things she’s fought for aligned with communities of color and her group is funded only by elitist white liberals; she’s a puppet.” Could the same be said of Ayanna Pressley?
Minority communities don’t need puppets in Congress controlled by elitist white liberals to represent us; we need representatives willing to increase our access to economic opportunities. Submission to white liberals has actually harmed communities of color, as “leaders” who claim to have our best interests in mind have placed a moratorium on interacting with President Trump. I have experienced this first hand, facing a litany of smears and insults since I first started working for the Trump campaign.
President Trump’s actions, though, demonstrate that he has been actively listening to minority voices. The president regularly confers with black leaders and works with them to solve the challenges facing their communities. A consummate deal maker, President Trump requires no preconditions and does not demand ideological fealty. He’s always looking for new opportunities to advance the interests of American citizens, regardless of their skin color.
CNN contributor and former Obama administration Green Jobs Czar Van Jones bears witness to this fact. Willing to put ideological differences aside, Jones came to the White House to help craft the FIRST STEP Act, a landmark bipartisan legislative victory that begins the process of rectifying the long-standing overcriminalization of minority communities. Naturally, liberal activists criticized Jones for working with the Trump administration, calling him a sell-out on Twitter.
In their view, Jones was a black face who was not speaking with a black voice. In reality, though, Van Jones is proof that “true” black voices have a duty to work with President Trump when doing so will benefit the community they claim to serve.
Instead of parroting white liberal talking points, minority leaders should instead think deeply about the most effective ways to pursue the interests of their constituents. If they do, they’ll come to the conclusion that working with President Trump to Make America Great is the most effective solution for every community in America.
Katrina Pierson is a senior adviser for Donald J. Trump for President Inc.