A Democratic member of Congress took to TV yesterday to recount a harrowing and racist experience she said she faced while working on Capitol Hill, where she currently serves as a representative for California’s 12th district.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) was on CNN Thursday when she recounted that a White man would not allow her to enter a members-only elevator as she was on her way to vote. She said that at the time, she was wearing a member’s pin, which indicates to others that she is a member of Congress.
“He blocked me from getting into the elevator and told me I was not a member of Congress and it was for members only,” Lee said. “I said, ‘Sir, I’m a member of Congress.’ And I showed him my pin and he said, ‘Whose pin did you steal?’ This is an example of what personal racism is and how people of color constantly have to deal with this each and every day.”
She then went on to call out Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley for remarks she made recently stating that America is not a racist country and has “little kinks” to fix.
“Racism, institutional racism, is in the DNA of this country,” Lee said. “When you look at what has taken place, look at our Native Americans, the genocide of Native Americans. When you look at what has taken place as it relates to African Americans, 250 years plus of enslaving African Americans, and then you look at the disparities now in our community in terms of health care, unemployment, the wealth gap, housing. You can’t tell me the systemic racism does not exist. It’s not just a little kink.”
Haley, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations has been caught up in controversy lately, most recently after she failed to mention slavery when asked about the Civil War. Rather, she said during a CNN town hall that the Civil War was about “the freedoms of what people could and couldn’t do.”
When asked about the role slavery played, she responded: “What do you want me to say about slavery?” She then backtracked her comments, stating that “of course” the Civil War was about slavery.
Haley’s viewpoint is “very dangerous” and she is “clueless,” Lee said.
Lee is currently running for Senator in California to take over the vacated seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She will face two other Democrats: Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Katie Porter, both representing California.
