Is there a double standard for Black women in government when facing public scrutiny?
Recently, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) went off the rails (again) by mocking the intelligence and personal appearance of two Black and Latina members of Congress during a House Oversight Committee vote to advance contempt hearings for Attorney General Merrick Garland. (I will not go into specifics, but here is a link to the much-publicized encounter.)
In February 2024, British journalist Emily Maitlis asked Greene why she and other Trump supporters endorsed so many conspiracy theories. Greene’s reply? “Why don’t you fuck off?”
Whew. If Vice-President Kamala Harris had uttered those words…well, you know.
Whereas white female legislators Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Greene (aka MTG) seldom face consequences for their outrageous actions or words.
When Black women in government faces allegations of misconduct or other non-criminal offenses, Republicans and far right organizations push hard for their resignation or removal from office. Their attacks reek of misogynoir, “hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against Black women.”
For example, Harris’s detractors (on both sides of the political aisle) question her competence, her likeability, and her qualifications as next in line for the presidency.
Dr. Kendra Hamilton, assistant professor of English and director of the Southern Studies Program at Presbyterian College, said, “Since she has been in the position [of vice president], we have seen a level of vitriol and targeting that you have never seen with male vice presidents, period … usually nobody cares about what’s going on in the vice president’s office.”
Harris’ plight is not unique. Other high-profile Black women face harsh scrutiny for their actions (alleged or otherwise) that would not disqualify their white female counterparts from retaining office or leadership positions.
Kristen Clarke, U.S. Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division
Background
At a 2021 Senate confirmation hearing, Clarke failed to disclose a 2006 arrest on a domestic violence complaint. Senator Tom Cotton (R-ARK) questioned Clarke about any arrest for a violent crime against a person. She answered “No” because her Maryland arrest record had been expunged, and she did not believe that she had a duty to reveal it.
Some critics have labeled Clarke, “antisemitic,” because in 1994, as president of Harvard’s Black Students Association, she invited now-deceased author Anthony “Tony” Martin, former Emeritus Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College, to speak on racism. In 2021, Forward, a Jewish newspaper, condemned Martin’s book, The Jewish Onslaught, which accused Jews of having a “monopoly” on the notion of African inferiority. Clarke later apologized for having invited him.
Clarke garnered criticism for writing a letter in support of Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, ex-chairs of Women’s March, Inc., who refused to condemn Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, for calling Jews “satanic.”
Detractors accuse Clarke of being anti-police because of her support for “defund the police.”
Let’s Talk About It
Clarke, the first woman in history confirmed by the Senate to lead the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department, did have an arrest record for domestic violence against her former husband, Reginald Avery. She cited “years-long abuse and violence” during her marriage. In October 2006, a Maryland state attorney dismissed the charge without a trial, and her record was removed (expunged) from Maryland databases.
Did Clarke have a legal obligation to divulge the arrest during the Senate hearings? According to FindLaw, “… you will likely be required to disclose all expungements if you choose to run for any level of elected office, such as governor, city council member, or even dog catcher ….” Clarke, however, was not running for elected office.
On April 30, 2024, The Daily Signal, a conservative “multimedia news organization of the Heritage Foundation,” said that back in 2021 Avery “alleged” to the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) that Clarke had cut his finger to the bone during a domestic dispute.
The National Review, another conservative website and magazine, published a news story calling Clarke “an avid proponent of (DOJ’s) loony transgender agenda.”
Conservative and ultraright groups have misconstrued Clarke’s stand on “defund the police” as anti-police. In 2021, Clarke wrote for Newsweek’s “Opinion” column, “I advocate for defunding policing operations that have made African Americans more vulnerable to police violence and contributed to mass incarceration, while investing more in programs and policies that address critical community needs.”
In support of Clarke’s nomination, Amy Spitalnick, former executive director for Integrity First America, told the Washington Post, “The GOP attacks on Kristen Clarke are ridiculous and offensive in every way. The attacks are grounded in dog whistles and misogyny and racism.”
The attacks continue.
Fani Willis, Fulton County District Attorney, GA
Background
Donald Trump (now a convicted felon) filed suit asking the Georgia appellate court to overturn Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s ruling, which allows Willis to continue prosecuting the election inference trial despite an ill-advised relationship with Nathan Wade, whom she had hired as special prosecutor. McAfee told Willis that Wade had to forfeit his position.
Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) filed Georgia House Resolution 872 to impeach Willis for alleged, “misuse of her office for political gains rather than the pursuit of justice.”
The Republican-led Georgia Senate voted 30-19 to establish a committee to investigate Willis “on the grounds that the district attorney and the special prosecutor have been engaged in an improper … which has resulted in the special prosecutor, and, in turn, the district attorney, profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers."
The AAF, a conservative nonprofit and the architects of Project 2025, which includes calls for a total ban on abortions, deregulation of big businesses, and the elimination of “gender ideology” in schools and other social institutions, filed ethic complaints against Willis and Wade calling for their disbarment.
On May 23, 2024, Amanda Timpson, former director of gang prevention and intervention under Willis, testified before the (Georgia) Senate Special Committee, alleging misuse of funds under state and federal grants in 2021 for “equipment, travel and swag,” which Timpson claims was illegal under the grant. She alleges that Willis demoted, and subsequently fired her, when she expressed her concerns.
Let’s Talk About It
In 2023, Willis was among eight nominees for Time magazine’s “Person of the Year,” for her prosecution of Donald Trump and his co-defendants. Coincidentally, most accusations or calls for Willis’ dismissal, impeachment, or disbarment, originated with Republicans, or Republican-led legislatures.
No one, however, has critiqued her record as district attorney. In fact, despite Trump’s assertions that in Atlanta, “murder and violent crime soars daily to new record highs,” the Atlanta Constitution-Journal reported, “… violent crime is down more than 20% compared to this time last year, according to Atlanta Police Department data” and calls Trump’s claims “misleading at best.”
In August 2023, Willis touted Atlanta’s accomplishments under “Operation Heatwave 2023,” a coordinated effort by her office, the Fulton County DA’s office, Atlanta Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, FBI, and Fulton County Sheriff's Office to “crackdown on gangs, guns, and drugs.”
The operation resulted in “89 arrests, 39 gang members arrested, 16 gang charges, and 56 guns recovered. Willis says overall violent crime is down 21%, and gang warrants are up 370%.”
Calls for Willis’s removal, or disbarment, attack her judgement (in hiring Wade), her professionalism (for taking trips with the special prosecutor) and her defiance (“Do you think I’m on trial? These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. I’m not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.”)
On May 21, Willis won her primary bid for reelection with 90 percent of the vote. Unfortunately, the onslaught of legal challenges jeopardizes her tenure as district attorney, and, if proven, Timpson’s allegations of misuse of funds could upend her career.
Is There a Double Standard?
Of course, Clarke and Willis should not be immune from scrutiny because they are Black women. Nonetheless, Boebert and Greene (aka MTG), despite their egregious conduct or utterances, have not faced sustained pressure to censure, impeach, or remove them from office.
Boebert
In May 2022, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) dismissed a complaint against Boebert by the FEC’s Office of General Counsel for misuse of campaign funds for personal use when the 3-3 vote by Republicans and Democrats resulted in a deadlock.
In September 2023, staff kicked Boebert out of a musical performance of Beetlejuice because she and a male guest were “vaping, singing, using phones and causing a disturbance.”
Boebert’s misconduct includes suggesting that Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a Muslim, is a terrorist and spitting at MTG during a spat on the House floor.
MTG
An FEC complaint states that MTG violated “soft money” ban in federal election campaign.
She threatened to retaliate against companies that complied with the Jan. 6 House investigation.
According to Courthouse News Service, MTG displayed “graphic photos of (Biden’s) son during official House business.”
Voters of Tomorrow, a youth organization, filed a formal complaint against MTG with the Office of Congressional Ethics after footage showed her allegedly kicking one of their staffers and making xenophobic remarks against the group’s executive director. The organization accused MTG of violating the Rules of the House Code of Conduct that requires members to “behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.”
On May 16, during a committee hearing, MTG told Rep. Jasmine Crockett, (D-TX), a Black woman, “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”
When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) demanded that MTG apologize, she said, “Why don’t you debate me?”
“I think it’s pretty self-evident,” Ocasio-Cortez shot back.
“Yeah, you don’t have enough intelligence,” MTG responded.
Despite persistent complaints against Boebert and MTG, House Republicans seem to turn a blind eye toward their indecorous behavior, affording them a grace denied Clarke and Willis.
Hmm?
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