Rep. Jasmine Crockett Rants About Oppression, White Men

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) made headlines on Wednesday for an impassioned outburst during a House Oversight Committee hearing, where she fiercely objected to the use of the word “oppression” in anti-DEI legislation. The hearing centered on the “Dismantle DEI Act,” a bill that seeks to weaken diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in federal institutions. When Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) referred to the bill as a “strong response to the oppression of our rights, liberties, and freedoms,” Crockett pounced.

“You consistently said over and over the word ‘oppression,’ and every time that you said it, it was almost as if I was hearing nails on a chalkboard, because it seems like you don’t understand the definition of ‘oppression,’ And I’d ask you to just refer to Google to help you out. Oppression is the prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control. That is the definition of oppression. And so, as I sit here as a black woman who practiced civil rights, let me tell you the reason that my colleagues wanted to make sure you understood the same black history that your side of the aisle wants to delete out of classrooms is because you can then misuse words like ‘oppression.’”

Although Crockett attempts to monopolize a word, the definition she shared could very well be applied to white men, that educational institutions and employers across the United States have systematically excluded from admissions and promotions in the name of “equity,” overlooking their qualifications and instead choosing candidates based on immutable characteristics — even when they fail to meet the same standards as their white male counterparts.

“There has been no oppression for the White man in this country. You tell me which White men were dragged out of their homes. You tell me which one of them got dragged all the way across an ocean and told that ‘You are going to go to work. We are going to steal your wives. We are going to rape your wives.’ That didn’t happen. That is oppression. We didn’t ask to be here. We’re not the same migrants that y’all constantly come up against. We didn’t run away from home. We were stolen. So yeah, we are going to sit here and be offended when you want to sit here and act like… and don’t let it escape you that it is White men on this side of the aisle telling us, people-of-color on this side of the aisle that y’all are the ones being oppressed, that y’all are the ones that are being harmed. That’s not the definition of oppression. You tell me the prolonged, cruel or unjust treatment that you’ve had and we can have a conversation.”

Crockett’s use of the transatlantic slave trade to make her point was perplexing, because while she may be the descendant of slaves, she has never experienced the oppression she’s referring to — and some would argue that the constant need to bring up slavery in conversations of this nature implies that black Americans have made incredible strides and face considerably fewer boundaries to success.

“I can’t even tell you how many White men have served in this chamber. But I can tell you that I am only the 55th Black woman to be elected to Congress. And so when you want to talk about history and pretend as if it was so long ago, it wasn’t. Because again, I am just number 55.”

The idea that the number of political representatives from a given demographic can be used to indicate their level of oppression is also debatable, especially when examining the respective presidencies of Obama and Trump. Under Trump’s leadership, black unemployment reached an all-time low.

“Diversity works, and until you can show me data that says otherwise, I think that we need to go back to being a country that listens to experts and gets out of our feelings and recognizes again that racism is real in this country, and until we stop pretending that it’s not, we will not solve the problems that we are consistently facing. And that will bring real unity that we seek when we’re looking for a more perfect union,” she said. 

There are ample studies and historical examples available showing that diversity for the sake of diversity actually has great potential to make institutions, governments and nations weaker. The Republican position hasn’t denied the existence of racism against black people, though the Democrat position has ignored the growing phenomenon of racism against white people. Crockett and her constituents could benefit from her taking her own advice, “getting out of her feelings,” and recognizing that racism is real even when outside of her preferred narrative.

Crockett’s remarks reflected a broader pattern of heated, often unrestrained political discourse. Crockett, in particular, has found herself in the center of impassioned confrontations. Her clash with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) earlier this year, during which the two exchanged sharp words insulting each other’s appearances, is a case in point. While such emotional outbursts often capture the media’s attention and may resonate with a certain sect of supporters, they’re largely perceived as unprofessional and unbecoming of the office, running the risk of alienating voters who desire more measured and constructive dialogue in Washington.