Abrams proves she’s a contender in 2020
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams became the first black woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union Tuesday and did so with a speech full of warmth and optimism.
“Our progress has always found refuge in the basic instinct of the American experiment — to do right by our people,” she said. “And with a renewed commitment to social and economic justice, we will create a stronger America, together. Because America wins by fighting for our shared values against all enemies: foreign and domestic. That is who we are — and when we do so, never wavering — the state of our union will always be strong.”
Her tone and delivery were a stark contrast from those delivered by President Donald Trump, who continues to largely traffic in falsehoods and delusions of grandeur when speaking. Trump may have called for unity, but Abrams offered the real path toward it as she recalled her time as the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, working with Republicans to negotiate on issues like criminal justice reform, transportation and improvements to the state’s foster care system. Meanwhile, the president appeared to snub Nancy Pelosi while taking thinly veiled shots at a bevy of his political adversaries.
Abrams seized upon an opportunity that often proves difficult for rising politicians and proved what a star she is and how much more deserving she is of greater national attention.
Although Abrams has reportedly been courted to run for the Senate in 2020, it has been frustrating to see her left out of conversations about prospective 2020 candidates. It’s true that she lost her race for governor, but it was by a tiny margin in a campaign marred with strong allegations of voter suppression by her opponent, who was the sitting secretary of state. With all due respect to Beto O’Rourke, who ran an impressive campaign in his own right, he, too, is a recent loser. So why can he be propped up as a presidential contender but not her? Stacey Abrams was the most Googled politician of 2018, not Beto O’Rourke. Stacey Abrams earned a higher voter percentage than O’Rourke did, and she had far more barriers than he did.
In “Beto’s excellent adventure drips with white male privilege,” CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson wrote: “O’Rourke, tall, handsome, white and male, has this latitude, to be and do anything. His privilege even allows him to turn a loss to the most despised candidate of the cycle into a launching pad for a White House run. Stacey Abrams, a Yale-trained lawyer, couldn’t do this.”
It is curious to see for whom some reserve their biggest dreams.
When asked last month about suggestions that she ought to be in the mix of names of potential presidential and vice presidential candidates, Abrams agreed and went on to highlight the inherent biases that have kept her name out.
“It is telling that that conversation [about her and a potential presidential campaign] isn’t happening as frequently,” Abrams told the Washington Post. “And that is to take nothing away from those whose names are being bandied about, but I worry, not just for myself, I worry about the person who comes next who is kept out of the conversation because of arbitrary filters about what viability looks like.” She noted those filters included race and gender.
The problem isn’t O’Rourke; the belief that he is a most viable political candidate by virtue of his being white and male is. What’s most frustrating about that is that black women are known to be the most supportive bloc of the Democratic Party. The Democrats would not have any power if not for black women so why do some regrettably still lack the imagination to see a black female politician with the most power this nation has to offer?
As she campaigned in Georgia primary last year, Abrams had to contend with the fear that because her rival Stacey Evans was white, Abrams was a more dicier pick for Democrats eager to win in the fall. She beat Evans, decisively. And although she did narrowly lose to Brian Kemp, she won more votes than any other Democrat that has run statewide in Georgia. If Stacey Abrams were a white man with this resume, she would be treated as a serious presidential contender the way Beto O’Rourke is.
I’m not sure what the future holds for Abrams, but her performance last night illustrated that leadership can be displayed just as well from a black woman in ruby than any white dude in a suit. Arceneaux, a Houston native, is the author of the New York Times bestseller “I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé.”