Responsive Ad
News

Megyn Kelly Posts White And Fragile Attack On Sen. Laphonza Butler Celebrating HBCUs At The DNC

marky
by marky 10:37 AM
Democratic National Convention (DNC) 2024 - Day One

U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler, a Democrat from California, speaks during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. | Source: Anadolu / Getty

One thing about the white and fragile: They can’t stand to see Black people celebrate themselves.

The salt-o-meter in the Caucasian psyche starts burning into the red whenever Black people celebrate Blackness, including Black businesses, Black entertainment networks, Black History Month, and every other Black thing that only became a Black thing because white things were inaccessible to us. Black people in America founded (or at least co-founded), operated, invested in and built up our own institutions and establishments because America is a historically racist country. Through those institutions and establishments, Black people forged legacies. Now, white people (and Tim Scott and Nikki Haley) have decided for themselves that America isn’t racist anymore, and therefore, those Black establishments and the legacies they created should be done away with and never spoken of again, meaning Black people should now give up our investments and historic achievements — just so white people like Megyn Kelly can be comfortable.

MORE: The Blackest DNC Takeaways As Biden Passes The Democratic Torch To Kamala Harris

During the first night of the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) began her speech by noting that she and Vice President Kamala Harris “share a lot in common,” specifically, the fact that they “both graduated from historically Black colleges.”

All Butler, a Jackson State University grad, did was mention that she and Harris, a Howard University grad, both attended HBCUs—you know, those institutions of learning that only existed due to white people’s collective issue with Black students reading from the same textbooks and breathing the same classroom air as white students. 

Now, Black people across America heard what Butler said without it even registering as a controversial statement, because if you grew up around Black folks and in Black families, then you are likely well-accustomed to the pride HBCU alumni take in being HBCU alumni. You’ve likely seen the way Black people who attended HBCUs spot each other in the world and become the living embodiments of that one Spiderman meme. Kelly, on the other hand, heard something different. She heard what many white people’s sensitive and melanin-deficient ears hear whenever the word “Black” is included in anything, including Black History Month, the Black National Anthem, Black Entertainment Television and, of course, Black Lives Matter. Kelly heard an imaginary affront to white people.

“Laphonza Butler spkg – (she filled Feinstein’s seat) – celebrating that she and Harris both graduated from historically black colleges. Imagine the white person up there: I’m proud to tell you I went to a mostly white university!” Kelly tweeted.

You almost have to admire the way millions of white Americans appear to have come together and collectively agreed to ignore the reality of American history as it pertains to Black people—I mean, if that collective denial wasn’t the complete and total basis for white conservative’s war on DEI and affirmative action. No one should have needed to point out to Kelly that HBCUs were birthed from systemic racism in higher learning, just as no one should have to point out that “White History Month” isn’t a thing because, in America, white history is celebrated by default and it represents the overwhelming majority of what students are taught in American history classes from kindergarten through high school. 

Kelly could have rubbed two sticks together and sparked a little common sense in that otherwise empty campsite that is her brain, but, instead, she set herself up for an easy and effortless clapback from people who only needed to point out the obvious.

To be fair, it wouldn’t be the first time Kelly failed to draw the connection between America’s racist past and how it affects modern racial dynamics. This is the same Fox News blonde-and-dimwitted prototype who vehemently defended blackface.

So, yes, it would be racist as hell if a white person got up on the DNC stage and said, “I’m proud to tell you I went to a mostly white university” — just as it would be racist as hell if a white person stated emphatically that Jesus and Santa Claus are white and should only be depicted as white.

But beyond that, Kelly and her white, racist and historical fact-averse ilk clearly haven’t given much thought to what celebrations of whiteness would even look like in a nation where whiteness represents cultural and social normalcy by default. For example, how would “White History Month” look any different than the other 10 months of the year that aren’t February? How would it even be identifiable when white historical figures and events already fill the pages of history textbooks? We already have myriad holidays celebrating white people and white history. Black people have Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (The former has only been nationally recognized for three years, by the way.)

In Kelly’s case, why would it make sense for a white person to vocally take pride in attending “a mostly white university” when the overwhelming majority of American colleges and universities are PWIs?

But, truthfully, logic is only a peripheral part of Kelly’s issue. At the forefront is just straight-up racism. If it weren’t, Kelly would have been equally offended when Trump talked about “Black jobs.” All of the white conservatives pandering for the “Black vote” would also get under her white skin.

It’s also worth mentioning that Harris having attended an HBCU contradicts the white conservative narrative started by Donald Trump that Harris hid her Black identity and only identified as Indian prior to running for elected office. The Democratic nominee attended one of the most well-known HBCUs in America where she pledged the well-known and historically Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. A person simply doesn’t do these things if they are trying to hide their Blackness.

SEE ALSO:

DNC: Democratic Leaders Push For Deeper Connections With Black Male Voters

Things Black Voters Should Know Ahead Of The Democratic National Convention

Joe Biden and Running Mate Kamala Harris Deliver Remarks In Delaware

The post Megyn Kelly Posts White And Fragile Attack On Sen. Laphonza Butler Celebrating HBCUs At The DNC appeared first on NewsOne.


Post a Comment

0 Comments