In November 2012, then Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz declared of the newly elected Congress: “They [Republicans] got whiter and more male, and we now have a majority minority and female caucus for the first time in history.” Fourteen years later, Wasserman Schultz, currently a representative for Florida’s 25th congressional district — a district whose boundaries were shifted earlier this year — has shifted to campaign in another, neighboring Florida district. In the supremest of ironies, it is not only majority-minority (49 percent black), but has been represented by black Democrats since the 1990s.
Wasserman Schultz’s decision to change districts to increase her chances of staying in Congress — soundly defeating the competition, including scandal-ridden Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick on Aug. 18 — not only presents a remarkably blatant example of the former DNC Chair’s hypocrisy, but proof positive that leftist propaganda about racial ideology will always take a backseat to politics. Whether the grifting is of a racial or gender bent, the woke objective has never been about justice, but the cynical exploitation of the language of “diversity” to secure political dominance.
Even Democrats Sniffed A Florida Scam
The hypocrisy of Wasserman Schultz shifting districts to represent a majority-minority district was not lost upon black Democrats there, especially given analysts expect the number of black lawmakers will decrease after the midterm election.
“She’s been an ally, but suddenly it’s feeling more like she’s using the familiarity she’s built against us,” Corey Shearer, president of Broward County’s Black Democratic Caucus recently told the Washington Post.
Of Florida’s fifteen elected DNC members, ten of them signed a statement declaring that Wasserman Schultz was “treating one of Florida’s few remaining majority-Black districts as a political opportunity.” The statement added: “We cannot claim to defend voting rights, racial justice, and representation while undermining Black political power when it becomes politically convenient.”
Wasserman Schultz’s opportunistic political play even elicited criticism from national party leaders. House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to endorse her, describing “the sensitivities of the moment in terms of an unprecedented Jim Crow-like assault on Black political representation.”
Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Yvette D. Clarke in turn explained: “We had a conversation …. Encouragement was not a part of that conversation.” The liberal American Prospect described Wasserman Schultz as “lily-white” and attacked her for “parachut[ing] into a race alongside four viable Black candidates.”
The Left Attacks ‘Structural Racism’ … Until It’s Inconvenient
Wasserman Schultz will probably win the heavily Democratic FL-20 in November — her Republican opponent Brent Anderson has raised far less money than her, and of the district’s registered voters, more than 55 percent of them are Democrats. That her likely victory is in direct contradiction with her own remarks on the racial composition of Congress (let alone the broader platform of her party) obviously illuminates Wasserman Schultz’s hypocrisy. But it also demonstrates that for as much as the left foregrounds race as the most important political issue of our time, the reality is that even the woke ideologues will always prioritize political power over ideological consistency.
During the 2020 presidential election, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden asserted: “we must dismantle systemic racism;” his running mate Kamala Harris condemned the “structural racism” of the United States. In 2022, Hakeem Jeffries, who is a potential contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, demanded the nation “address the poison of white supremacy,” a poison that supposedly affected “the whole country.” Earlier, this year, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on the short list for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, opined: “If you are in this country and you are not Black, you benefit from a system of white supremacy.”
Obviously, the left is beholden to grievance narratives antithetical to American history, identity, and our constitutional order. As much as offering obeisance to those narratives rallies the base or presents a means of tarring conservatives as racist, fascist defenders of the patriarchy, liberals exploit them for political advantage. But when they don’t, or even undermine their grasp on power… well, that’s how we get Debbie “Downer” Wasserman Schultz claiming: “We don’t want to lose the power and experience I have for Broward.” (Or Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, who, despite complaints about “400 years worth of institutionalized racism” and demanding “massive structural change” to American cities, was last year elected to a third term.)
Call The Grievance Narratives What They Are: A Grift
All of this shows that the grievance narratives so central to the left’s messaging are a cynical con intended to empower and enrich at the expense of America’s already fraying social fabric. Indeed, in this current Congress, women comprise a minority (42 percent) of Democrat representatives, while non-whites are also a minority of Democrat congressmen and women (45 percent). For all of the talk of structural racism and the patriarchy, Dems seem certainly content to “perpetuate” both by voting for men and whites when it is politically advantageous.
More broadly there is a long list of grievance grifters who have made millions off these narratives, among them Robin DiAngelo of White Fragility notoriety, Ibram X. Kendi who reportedly charges $25,000 for a single-hour presentation, or Black Lives Matter’s Patrice Cullors, who purchased a $6 million Los Angeles-area property with the money she raised for the organization.
The DEI consultancy industry alone is reported to generate at least $5 billion annually. “DEI initiatives play a crucial role in uplifting historically persecuted or marginalized communities and providing pathways to success for countless numbers of students,” Wasserman Schultz declared in 2024.
Floridians in FL-25 will likely have Ms. Wasserman Schultz to represent them and advocate on behalf of “marginalized communities.” As she herself told the Washington Post: “You want to make sure that you have someone who knows the communities and knows their values, who has delivered for them and knows how to fight for them.” Or you can remember her racial remarks from 2012, and note that her victory will ensure a “whiter” Congress.
