In a speech delivered to the Professional BusinessWomen of California in San Francisco, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addressed the daily “indignities” that women, particularly women of color, endure simply for performing their jobs.
Clinton’s remarks also highlighted the lack of women in high-ranking positions within the Trump administration, the failed Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare, and the urgent need for improved paid family leave. She provided two recent examples of what she considered mistreatment of prominent black women to illustrate her point.
One example involved a heated 2017 exchange between Press Secretary Sean Spicer and April Ryan, a correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks. During a White House briefing, Spicer denied any connection between the administration and Russia, suggesting that such speculation was fueled by baseless media reports. When Ryan questioned him further and brought up President Donald Trump’s 2006 derogatory comment about former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Spicer accused her of having an agenda and admonished her, “Please stop shaking your head again.”
That evening, Clinton defended Ryan, stating, “April Ryan, a respected journalist with unrivaled integrity, was doing her job…in the White House press room when she was patronized and cut off while trying to ask a question.”
Clinton also referenced Bill O’Reilly’s recent remark about Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), in which the Fox News host disparagingly referred to her hair as a “James Brown wig.” Many viewed the comment as both racist and sexist. Waters has been a vocal critic of Trump’s rhetoric and policies since his election.
“One of our own California congresswomen, Maxine Waters, was taunted with a racist joke about her hair,” Clinton remarked. “Too many women, especially women of color, have had a lifetime of practice taking precisely these kinds of indignities in stride.”
“But why should we have to?” she continued. “And any woman who thinks this couldn’t be directed at her is living in a dream world.”
