CNN’s New Day ended its 8 am hour by attacking Vice President Kamala Harris for not going fully woke on the question of whether America is a racist country.
Co-host Brianna Keilar brought on race-baiting hack editor for the the Washington Post’s global opinions page, Karen Attiah to complain how “disappointed” she was in Harris for “denying” our racist reality to appease white Democrats.
Keilar started off by playing a soundbite of Harris on ABC’s Good Morning America last week where she tentatively agreed with Republican Senator Tim Scott that America was not a “racist country,” but we still had to “speak the truth” about the racism and white supremacy that still exists here today. That wasn’t good enough for Keilar or Attiah. Keilar invited the Post editor to respond:
“That is Vice President Kamala Harris agreeing with Republican Senator Tim Scott when he said flat out last week that America is not a racist country. My next guest has something to say about that,” she touted.
Attiah went into a long-winded response saying how "disappointed" she was in Harris for denying reality:
So Kamala Harris, ever since she really joined the presidential race, has obviously because of her -- both because of her experience and because of her identity as a biracial, black-identifying woman, she's, you know, become a symbol for so much, including for what many would think is-is racial progress in this county. So she's had and has to walk this tight rope on race. you saw what happened with uh President Obama and often the backlash that would come when he would speak very openly about his black identity. Um, so I think this time what was really uh disappointing, I think, to many people, to agree with Tim Scott and look at this country and say it's not a racist country despite the fact that we've been living, particularly for the last year, living with the realities of systemic racism beamed into our uh televisions, into our social media with police brutality, with the rise of an Asian um American -- attacks on Asian-Americans. She could have really just said, "Look, we have to deal with the history of racism and its present existence and that would have been done," but the denialism is basically trying to say that, "Yeah, you know, this country has all the hallmarks of being a racist country, it has all the symptoms, it has all the causes, it has all the history, it's literally right in our faces but it's not that."
Attiah added that this was more about appeasing white voters who, imagine that, take offense at being labeled as racist oppressors:
I think it has more to do with the fact that the word "racist" in and of itself tends to engender a lot of emotion, a lot of defensiveness, particularly you know in perhaps white Americans. We've seen all sorts of world salad being invented to avoid the "R" word. Racially tinged, racially charged, racially spiced, whatever but ultimately at the end of the day I think that this was really an attempt to try to not alienate uh white voters in this big tent uh approach that the Democrats are uh trying to do.
Keilar was equally flabbergasted at the idea that Scott and Harris could experience instances of racism while not labeling the entire country as racist:
“[Y]ou can listen to Tim Scott talk about his experiences with racism. Clearly we've heard the Vice President talk about her experiences as well. How then -- you basically pause it. How then do you then argue that the country is not racist?” she exclaimed, asking Attiah to elaborate on that point.
The Post journalist whined she was "exhausted" by Harris excusing how she was victim of racism on the campaign trail, (or so said the media, ad nauseam):
[W]e saw it on the campaign trail. We saw the questions about her uh, nationality, whether or not she was eligible to run, these racist birtherist attacks. We saw the deliberate mispronunciations um of her name. We’ve watched her face the racism that America uh has long been known for. So uh I think for many of us it's just -- it's just kind of exhausting to have to watch her kind of walk both sides on this.
What's really "exhausting" is how the media relentlessly tries to divide the country into racial oppressors and victims.
This discussion came after several segments trashing the GOP or Trump and flattering President Biden. CNN’s New Day was sponsored by Sandals Resorts and Expedia. Contact them at the Conservatives Fight Back page here.
Read the transcript below:
CNN’s New Day
5/3/2021
BRIANNA KEILAR: That is Vice President Kamala Harris agreeing with Republican Senator Tim Scott when he said flat out last week that America is not a racist country. My next guest has something to say about that. Joining me now is Karen Attiah who is global opinions editor of "The Washington Post." Karen, you wrote about this in an op-ed. What is your response to the vice president's comments?
KAREN ATTIAH: So Kamala Harris, ever since she really joined the presidential race, has obviously because of her -- both because of her experience and because of her identity as a biracial, black-identifying woman, she's, you know, become a symbol for so much, including for what many would think is-is racial progress in this county. So she's had and has to walk this tight rope on race. you saw what happened with uh President Obama and often the backlash that would come when he would speak very openly about his black identity. Um, so I think this time what was really uh disappointing, I think, to many people, to agree with Tim Scott and look at this country and say it's not a racist country despite the fact that we've been living, particularly for the last year, living with the realities of systemic racism beamed into our uh televisions, into our social media with police brutality, with the rise of an Asian um American -- attacks on Asian-Americans. She could have really just said, look, we have to deal with the history of racism and its present existence and that would have been done, but the denialism is basically trying to say that, yeah, you know, this country has all the hallmarks of being a racist country, it has all the symptoms, it has all the causes, it has all the history, it's literally right in our faces but it's not that. I think it has more to do with the fact that the word "Racist" in and of itself tends to engender a lot of emotion, a lot of defensiveness, particularly you know in perhaps white Americans. We've seen all sorts of world salad being invented to avoid the "R" word. Racially tinged, racially charged, racially spiced, whatever but ultimately at the end of the day I think that this was really an attempt to try to not alienate uh white voters in this big tent uh approach that the Democrats are uh trying to do.
KEILAR: You make a point about Tim Scott and essentially about Kamala Harris as well, which is you can listen to Tim Scott talk about his experiences with racism. Clearly we've heard the Vice President talk about her experiences as well. How then -- you basically pause it. How then do you then argue that the country is not racist? You know, what do you think about that, their talking about their experiences with racism but not saying the country is racist?
ATTIAH: As I sort of alluded to in my piece, I think so many uh black people and people of color have had to -- or have to go through this every day where we both you know want to be able to speak about our lived experiences, want to be able to speak about what it's like to be us in this country where we do face a different America than our white colleagues and friends, um and yet at the same time we're very careful to not, uh, again, you know, incite sort of you know feelings about this particularly. So I think this is something that not just politicians really, but every day so many of us have to walk, have to walk this tightrope in our daily lives. Um, but the truth is, is speaking about the truth and speaking about not only with Kamala Harris, we saw it on the campaign trail. We saw the questions about her uh, nationality, whether or not she was eligible to run, these racist birtherist attacks. We saw the deliberate mispronunciations um of her name. We’ve watched her face the racism that America uh has long been known for. So uh I think for many of us it's just -- it's just kind of exhausting to have to watch her kind of walk both sides on this.
KEILAR: Yeah and you talk about that exhaustion in your op-ed which I would certainly encourage people to check out. Karen Attiah, thank you as always for being with us.
