Sad About Jasmine

I’m sure James Talerico will make a fine Senator, and I sincerely hope he succeeds in flipping Texas for the Democrats. He may well be the perfect person for the job. Yet I have to confess to some deep sadness that Jasmine Crockett did not win the nomination. Once again, we’ve seen a less qualified, charismatic white man chosen over a woman, a black woman. It may be that he had the better message or a more appealing tone. It may be that race and gender had nothing to do with it, unlikely as that might seem. But I strongly suspect that many who voted for him did so, not because they themselves didn’t want to vote for a black woman, but out of the belief that a white Christian man was more electable than a proud, feisty black woman. And they may be right. Which itself makes me sad.

I want to live in an America where women and people of color don’t carry this burden of perceived lack of electability, an extra levy of talent and energy required to get to the starting point, where black women don’t carry the double burden of race and gender, where when we vote for a candidate, we can freely choose who we think will be best at the job, not who we think other people will think will be best at the job.

If you’re a woman, a black woman, a person of color, if you’re lesbian, gay, trans, gender-fluid or any combination of them all, or from any targeted group you’re constantly struggling against a headwind of overt or covert prejudice. You can still reach your destination, but it takes far more effort than it would if you had the wind of esteem at your back.

I know so many brilliant, talented black women who bring such gifts to this world. I see the toll it sometimes takes, in health, in energy, in so many sacrifices! Imagine how enriched this world might be if they could freely offer those gifts, without battling the invisible forces against them. What new inventions, what great music, what works of art, what advances in the sciences and the social systems, what trail-blazing leadership are we missing?

This why racism, why prejudice of any kind, hurts us all, deprives us of what we might most want and need. We need Jasmine Crockett in national politics because she’s smart and strong and courageous and unafraid, as well as creative, combative when necessary, and extremely funny. We need a world where she and her sisters can be judged purely on their merits, and we don’t have to wonder what other forces are at play. We need her life experience and her perspective. We could use a thousand more of her, but there is no-one else quite like her. She is unique, and I hope to stand with her and do my part to make this a world where she can fully wield the power she deserves.

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