It all began on Thursday when Ocasio-Cortez defended Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for accusing Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) of racism. Tlaib’s accusation came after Meadows invited Lynne Patton, a top official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to a House Oversight Committee hearing in order to downplay accusations that President Donald Trump is racist.
“Just because someone has a person of color, a black person, working for them does not mean they aren’t racist and … the fact someone would actually use a prop, a black woman in this chamber, in this committee is alone racist in itself,” Tlaib said, according to the New York Post.
Ocasio-Cortez chimed in Thursday, saying: “Total bravery from @RashidaTlaib as she reminds the nation that tokenism *is* racism.”
After backlash for her comments, Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday responded to a question from Fox Business Network host Charles Payne, who asked how many black people Ocasio-Cortez employs in her congressional office.
We have Black staff. We don’t parade them around to show the world how diverse our team is, and use that as some kind of evidence of the absence of racism. That’s what tokenism is. https://t.co/5qWMqy9522
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 2, 2019
Payne responded to Ocasio-Cortez explaining exactly what is “problematic” with her comments.
Thanks for getting back. Its disappointing rhetoric to suggest people are paraded and belittle hiring of Black people as tokenism. Moreover, questioning their accomplishments is even more problematic. You get that. BTW some of the Black folks on your staff my want to be visible. https://t.co/jvCKNGt6kV
— Charles V Payne (@cvpayne) March 2, 2019
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino characterized Ocasio-Cortez’s comments as “obvious racism.”- READ MORE