McKinney Plays the Race Card

In an unsurprising and totally expected move Rep. Cynthia McKinney has played the race card regarding the incident where she struck a Capitol Hill police officer.

A lawyer for Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who had an altercation with a Capitol Police officer, says she was “just a victim of being in Congress while black.”

[snip]

Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. McKinney was not wearing her pin at the time, and the officer apparently did not recognize her, she has said.

“Congresswoman McKinney, in a hurry, was essentially chased and grabbed by the officer,” Myart said. “She reacted instinctively in an effort to defend herself.”

Right because black people are routinely stopped and assaulted in the Capitol and its related office buildings.

FILED UNDER: Congress, Race and Politics, US Politics, ,
Steve Verdon
About Steve Verdon
Steve has a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and attended graduate school at The George Washington University, leaving school shortly before staring work on his dissertation when his first child was born. He works in the energy industry and prior to that worked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Division of Price Index and Number Research. He joined the staff at OTB in November 2004.

Comments

  1. Its interesting to contrast her view of the world with Steele’s view of the world. Hers is “all bad things happen to me because I am Black”. Steele’s is “you are responsible for your own actions and what you make of your opportunities”.

  2. Andy Vance says:

    I think she should take her act to the WWF. But this is interesting:

    But being the Girl Who Cried Racism means that people will also roll their eyes at the legitimate slights that the first black Congresswoman from Georgia has faced. In August 1993, during her first term in office, a Capitol Hill police officer tried to prevent her from bypassing a metal detector, as members of Congress are allowed to do. For years afterward, The Hill reports, the Capitol Police pinned a picture of McKinney to an office wall, warning officers to learn her face because she refuses to wear her member’s pin. (And because officers are innately suspicious of a black woman with braided hair and gold shoes.) Five years later, she blasted White House security after guards thought her 23-year-old white aide was the congresswoman.

    That last bit would definitely get my goat, but probably not to the point of violence.

  3. Herb says:

    McKinny, like so many of the so called black “Leaders” are the biggest Racists around.

    How often do we hear that “white people” are the reason for their inadequacies as an excuse for their own self promotion to gain a monetary incentive for themselves.

  4. Jonk says:

    Just wear the damn pin…

  5. Maggie says:

    Methinks, if McKinny can’t get herself dressed in the morning by putting on her little congressional pin, it’s time for her to retire. She’s got an open invitation to a chocolate city that should be to her racial liking.

  6. Ralph says:

    Rep. Cynthia McKinney … says she was “just a victim of being in Congress while black.”

    McKinney? Black? The story made sense when I thought she was Scottish. You’ve heard the one about the Scotsman who wouldn’t wear a pin, haven’t you… ?

  7. floyd says:

    she needs to lose the adjective and the attitide and represent ALL the people of her district as just a “congressman”. she’s not a rock star, she’s a SERVANT of the people and should show a little class and humility.

  8. slickdpdx says:

    Foolish action by the Captiol Hill Police. Misunderstandings on both sides. No harm. They should have let it go.

  9. Roger Ridenour says:

    What’s a security office supposed to do when someone he/she doesn’t recognize goes rushing into the Capitol building without a normal security check? After staying “stop” 3 times, even? The officer “touched her hand” inappropriately? Sounds like tackling the apparent intruder might be a more appropriate approach.

    The Congresswoman needs to grow up, get some manners, and learn to cooperate with those trying to protect her and everyone else in the bulding she works in. Playing the race card is disgusting.