Tulsi Gabbard, What Does Being A ‘Woman Of Color’ Have To Do With It? – OpEd
By Adam Dick
Last week I wrote about an apparent contradiction between Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) talking up her 16-plus years in the United States Army and her criticizing certain US military interventions overseas in a recent interview at the ABC show The View. Since her criticism of such interventions is at the heart of her presidential campaign, I suggested that it would be helpful for Gabbard to offer an explanation to dispel the apparent contradiction.
Also in her The View interview, Gabbard brought up being a “woman of color” in challenging people saying she is an unwitting asset of the Russian government, as she put it, “working against the interests of our people and our country, the country that I am willing to lay my life down for.” Said Gabbard:
So, if you’re saying it’s not deliberately, then you are implying that I am too stupid and too naïve and lack the intelligence to know what I am doing. That is extremely offensive to me and to every woman of color.
Come again?
The unwitting Russian asset pejorative has been deployed against plenty of not of color men too. President Donald Trump and libertarian communicator Ron Paul are two prominent examples of individuals who have been called Russian assets, both witting and unwitting. Critics have slung the unwitting Russian asset label at people — be they men, women, people of various races, etc. — who they see as not sufficiently accepting anti-Russia claims of one sort or another or as opposed to US government actions sold as means to challenge purported threats from Russia. And, of course, some women of color have made this sort of accusation.
Nonetheless, Gabbard claims that calling her an unwitting Russian asset is “extremely offensive” to her and every other woman of color. Why? What does she think being a woman of color has to do with it? Her claim sounds like rubbish.
This article was published by RonPaul Institute.
Bernie/Tulsi 2020
I was expecting more weight from the article, but received nothing more than an abrupt end “Her claim sounds like rubbish.” I couldn’t help but feel that you came up with the closing sentence first and built your article around it. That sounds more like rubbish to me.
On another note, Tulsi had to assert that she’s a woman of color because the mainstream media don’t involve her when they talk about the black or colored voters (interestingly, they include people like Harris, even Warren in the conversation – none is any blacker than Gabbard). Plus, not so long ago, they bombarded us with news that Gabbard is supported by white supremacists.
If I were Gabbard, I would do the same because the mainstream media have failed us.
That was the first time I have heard Tulsi refer to herself as a woman of color. Identity politics is not her thing unlike Kamala Harris. I am thinking she used it on this show because of the two hosts Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin being the two women on the show who have typically attacked her the most with lies and smears. The writer here is taking the quote out of context. She said, “I am a strong and intelligent woman of color”. I believe that was in response to Behar calling her an “useful idiot”. She said she wanted to set the record straight for the audience on who she is. In my opinion, she is amazing.
I thought throwing in all ones victimhood creds made ones argument stronger in todays victim culture.
What “contradiction”? Tulsi says she fought in Iraq because she believed her government but soon found out that her government was lying about Iraq. Her military service gives weight to her anti-war stance, because it is based on experience. As to being a “woman of color”, I agree that it has nothing to do with anything. It is a meaningless phrase. It is the sort of thing the Democrats goad you into saying with their stupid identity politics.
I think she was being sarcastic to the View hosts, because those are always their talking points when get their “chosen ones” attacked.