Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton talked about how she is working to "erode" white privilege out of her children during a conversation with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) about voting rights in America. The conversation was part of a "Women for Biden" online event.
"You know, congresswoman, certainly my children are young, but we believe they're young but still citizens so we talked about the ratification of the 19th Amendment and women's equality day but how fundamentally incomplete that victory was," Clinton said.
According to the former first daughter, the 19th Amendment was a "flawed victory" because "indigenous and black women didn't have the right to vote" and there are some states, like Alaska, that make it difficult for Native American women to vote.
"You know, 40 percent of Americans with disabilities report that they have real challenges voting in person. And so in states where there haven’t been, kind of, no-excuse absentee voting or where there hasn’t been the introduction of early voting yet, you know, it still isn’t, kind of, easy, fair or equal for many Americans to vote," Clinton explained.“And I think it’s really important that my children understand that. And I think it’s particularly important that they understand that as white children of privilege, because I want them to erode that privilege throughout their lives to ensure more people are enfranchised and that equality isn’t just an ideal.”
Pressley praised Clinton's desire to teach her children.
"You’re really modeling that which my mother certainly believed, which is that a parent is a child’s first teacher. And I so appreciate that you’re providing that full education, because we know that often there is a revisionist history or a sanitizing or filtering of history that does not tell the whole story," Pressley said.
According to the congresswoman, it's parents' conversations with their kids that would ensure that "we get to truth and reconciliation and we fortify ourselves to continue to do the work to make sure we dismantle those barriers that still exist." She said that she believes there are still "barriers" as well as "voter suppression and intimidation tactics" still taking place today.
It's always amazing to listen to people like Chelsea Clinton talk about wanting to erode "white privilege" out of her kids. How do you talk to kids who are 4 and 5-years-old about this idea that they're given so many more things or opportunities because of the color of their skin? Kids at that age don't understand the concepts of racism or white privilege. For the most part, kids at that age are focused on playing outside – or in 2020, playing on their tabIets. Kids tend to see past race and gender. They're innocent. They haven't been exposed to the harsh realities of the world. They have a brighter outlook on things. They're pure in that sense.
Chelsea Clinton grew up with luxuries most people can only dream of. It's not like she's lived a "normal" life. It's not like she knows what it's like to struggle to pay the bills, find a job or put food on the table for her kids. She was automatically put up on a pedestal and given more opportunities because of her last name, being related to the former president and growing up in politics.
It's hard to take this kind of thing seriously from someone who has lived the majority of their life in national politics. It might come off slightly more effective if the Democrats used someone that's a little more "normal" and a little less of a washed up political celebrity.
