On Saturday's edition of The Cross Connection on MSNBC, host Tiffany Cross welcomed Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza on to talk about President-elect Joe Biden's prospective cabinet and whether is diverse enough. Garza would say that diversity is important, but so are the ideas, because black people have held high positions before, but some have been Republicans.
While Garza's fellow BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors has described themselves as "trained Marxists," Cross highlighted how closely aligned she, as an MSNBC host, with them: "You and I talk a lot about the black agenda you penned. We’ve co-authored a few op-eds together. So, I want to ask, you represent a few different constituencies here, quite honestly. Where are you on the diversity with Biden's cabinet?"
Garza did not immediately answer the question, instead choosing to declare that, "these cabinet appointments as important not just because of representation involved but because of the values that come along with that representation."
She further elaborated:
It's important for us to have people who represent and reflect the diversity and the complexity of this country, and people who have the experiences of what it means to be left out and left behind, and, therefore, can legislate in a different kind of way. And I think for us, our perspective on this is that we really want to see appointments all throughout the cabinet and all through the administration that really reflect both of these positions, and that is incredibly important for black communities.
In other words, black people can hold positions of power, but they can still perpetuate racial injustice, and this is what happens when black Republicans get elected: "Specifically what we know is that we can have black faces in high places and it can turn out to not be great for us. Right? Like, in the case of what's happening with Daniel Cameron, in Kentucky," she gave as an example.
Cross agreed, interjecting by saying "right" as Garza continued and praised the selection of New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland for Secretary of Interior: "So that's what I think is at stake here, is making sure that we're matching values and representations, simple and substance."
Ignoring Garza and her BLM colleague's history of Marxism is, unfortunately, nothing new for the media.
This segment was sponsored by Dell.
Here is a transcript of the December 19 show:
MSNBC
12/19/2020
The Cross Connection with Tiffany Cross
11:02 AM ET
TIFFANY CROSS: Alicia, I let me to you. You and I talk a lot about the black agenda you penned. We’ve co-authored a few op-eds together. So, I want to ask, you represent a few different constituencies here, quite honestly. Where are you on the diversity with Biden's cabinet?
ALCIA GARZA: First, again Tiffany, to say congratulations. This is amazing and I'm so glad to be here with you this morning. Here’s where we stand with relation to the Black to the Future Action Fund: we see these cabinet appointments as important not just because of representation involved but because of the values that come along with that representation. And I think what we've learned over time, right, is that it's important for us to have both. It's important for us to have people who represent and reflect the diversity and the complexity of this country, and people who have the experiences of what it means to be left out and left behind, and, therefore, can legislate in a different kind of way. And I think for us, our perspective on this is that we really want to see appointments all throughout the cabinet and all through the administration that really reflect both of these positions, and that is incredibly important for black communities. Specifically what we know is that we can have black faces in high places and it can turn out to not be great for us. Right? Like, in the case of what's happening with Daniel Cameron, in Kentucky. And yet --
CROSS: Right.
GARZA: We also know that people like Congresswoman Deb Haaland would be an incredible resource, right, for the secretary of Interior, because of her experiences and because of what she represents in terms of the make up of this country. So that's what I think is at stake here, is making sure that we're matching values and representations, simple and substance.
