File this one under, Everything Is Racist. As you might imagine, Nicolle Wallace's MSNBC show on Friday was one, long, primal scream in reaction to the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. But one of Wallace's guests took things in an absurd-yet-predictable direction. Michele Goodwin, a professor at UC Irvine, somehow managed to tie the decision to—of course—Jim Crow, and yes, slavery.
Here was Goodwin:
"We are still linked to the vestiges of slavery, and we see that in ways that are all around us in the United States with the rise of white supremacy which is also tied to the efforts to dismantle Roe v. Wade.
And so, as we think about getting it right, we need to recenter the conversation, and be honest about the vestiges of Jim Crow that remain with us, the vestiges of American slavery that are with us. I mean, we, right now, have free states and non-free states as it relates to bodily autonomy. "
Wallace marveled in reply, "It's incredible. It's an incredible, incredible, way of thinking about this day that will forever be a part of our history."
Let's see if we get this right: being pro-life is being pro-slavery. And states that adopt pro-life laws are the equivalent of antebellum slave states—-despite the fact that a disproportionate number of the lives being saved will be those of black children. African-Americans comprise just 13% of the American population but have 38% of the abortions.
Goodwin also managed to work an impressive number of woke-speak phrases into her brief comments. Within a mere 60 seconds, Goodwin mentioned "centering," "arc towards justice," "lean into," and "recentered." Nicely played!
Wallace was deeply, deeply moved, pronouncing Goodwin's comments no less than "incredible, incredible, incredible."
On her MSNBC show, Nicolle Wallace's guest calling the Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade a "vestige" of "Jim Crow" and "slavery" was sponsored in part by Infiniti, Abbott, maker of Ensure, and Servpro.
A partial transcript is below. Click "expand" to read more.
MSNBC
Deadline White House
6/24/22
4:36 pm EDT
MICHELE GOODWIN: These midterm elections will mean a lot. But I also see this as a North Star moment, a kind of third Reconstruction. If we can understand 1865 with the abolition of slavery as being a part of the first Reconstruction, the 13th and 14th Amendments. And the middle part, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, as being second Reconstructions.
We need to get it right this time, and we understand the urgency of centering the lives of girls, and women, and folks who are LGBTQ, and individuals with disabilities as part of that new horizon that arc towards justice, which we continue to lean into.
But I think it's also important to understand that we are still linked to the vestiges of slavery, and we see that in ways that are all around us in the United States with the rise of white supremacy which is also tied to the efforts to dismantle Roe v. Wade. And so, as we think about getting it right, we need to recenter the conversation, and be honest about the vestiges of Jim Crow that remain with us, the vestiges of American slavery that are with us. I mean, we, right now, have free states and non-free states as it relates to bodily autonomy.
NICOLLE WALLACE: It's incredible. It's an incredible, incredible, way of thinking about this day that will forever be a part of our history.
