By Adam Pagnucco.
After her remarks alleging that some Muslim families were on the same side as white supremacists, Council Member Kristin Mink is in the national news again. This time, the issue is her leaving a progressive organization she co-founded because it is led by white women who allegedly suppressed the voices of people of color.
Fox News has reported on Mink’s 2019 departure from Lights for Liberty, a group that organizes protests supporting migrants. Mink’s objection to the group, which she founded along with four white women, was that it had “a continued lack of top-level leadership from impacted people.” In a resignation email, she said she wanted people of color to be included in “the inner circle” and said that “white people including celebs should be few and with good reason” among speakers to the media. She wrote, “Having all white women representing us is going to add to the credibility issue, and doesn’t elevate the right voices.”
Mink said more in two posts on Medium in July and August, 2019. She opposed the group’s starting a non-profit because it “diverts funds” from other groups who need them and wrote, “I also find it very troubling that the four other founders, white women, do not appear to be divesting control of L4L to people of color (POC) and impacted people.” She deplored the “the white feminism, gaslighting, and weaponized fragility at work beneath the surface of Lights For Liberty” and condemned “hypocrisy and white saviorism.”
Fox News also pointed out Mink’s history of comments about white people on Twitter, a few of which appear below.
For good measure, Fox threw in the 2019 tweet below in which Mink goes after two Trump Middle East peace envoys as “Zionist Jews loyal to the Trumps with zero relevant experience.”
Mink is not alone. Many progressives think white people, including white women, should take a step back to make room for voices of color. Former school board member Jill Ortman-Fouse tweeted her support for Mink on Friday.
The problem for Mink is that not all white women, including those who are Democrats, will be as supportive of her positions as Ortman-Fouse. Indeed, while many white women may be faring better than women of color, they still have a gender gap in pay with white men and suffer from sexual harassment. Furthermore, white women are the largest single demographic bloc among county Democratic primary voters and thousands of them live in Mink’s district. How many of them agree that white women in progressive leadership are a problem?
The advantage of being an incumbent elected official is the opportunity to expand one’s base for future runs for office. But Mink’s public remarks and conduct in office risk raising the ire of Muslims (to whom she has apologized), white women, people who want police protection, people who are skeptical of tax increases, people who own rental units and perhaps “Zionist Jews.” And she is only halfway into her first year in office.
What will the next three years bring?