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Cori Bush Faced White Privilege and the Erasure of Black Women on Day One
The Congresswoman-elect was mistaken for Breonna Taylor by her GOP colleagues
Imagine it’s your first day at your dream job as a public servant.
You’ve worked hard, you’ve studied, you’ve honed your craft, and now you are being recognized for your dedication. Your new employer has awarded you the opportunity to put your talent and skills to good use to create a better, more equitable society.
When you walk into your office, a small smile plays around your lips as you realize how often you’ve envisioned this moment in your wildest daydreams. You fight the urge to pinch yourself because everything you’ve wished for has finally become your reality. Ready to roll up your sleeves and work to ensure justice, equality, and full autonomy for all Black people in this country, you sit behind your desk and take in your new surroundings.
Images of the powerful women who made this opportunity possible for you slowly flow through your mind. You imagine how Shirley Chisholm, Maxine Waters, Karen Bass, Sheila Jackson Lee, Barbara Jordan, Cynthia McKinney, Lucy MacBeth, Cardiss Collins, Val Demings, Kamala Harris, and the 37 other Black congresswomen felt when their journeys began. Your heart fills with pride as you realize your name will be etched in history alongside these illustrious, celebrated, and historical women. The work that you do will always be directly connected to them and their remarkable legacies.
After you’ve organized your office, you make your way to your new-hire orientation still feeling heady from the realization of your accomplishment. You pass a few of your GOP colleagues in the halls of the capitol building who smile at you welcomingly. Initially, this shocks you because you are well aware of the treatment Black women in Congress have received from the other side of the aisle, however, these people appear friendly and are motioning for you to join them.
As you get closer, you immediately come down from the clouds and suddenly feel as if you’d traded in your dream for a nightmare when someone from the group approaches you and says:
