- The seven candidates running for Democratic National Committee chair met in D.C. last night for a candid discussion on the party's handling of race
- The most surprising outburst came from Sally Boynton Brown, a white woman from Idaho, who suggested that white people needed to sit back and listen
- She argued that the leaders of the Democratic Party had failed, pointing to how DNC chair candidates had to discuss how to deal with Black Lives Matter
- Brown suggested that members of the Democratic Party were prejudiced and that white people needed to learn more about what minorities experienced
- 'Until we shut our mouths,' she argued at the forum, 'We're not going to break through this'
The
sole white woman running for the job of Democratic National Committee
chair said part of her job would be to shush other white people up, so
that voices of color could be heard.
Sally
Boynton Brown, who's currently the executive director of Idaho's
Democratic Party – a state she joked was 'so white, right?' – suggested
that those volunteering and leading the party needed 'training' to have
hard conversations about race.
'We have
to teach them how to communicate, how to be sensitive and how to shut
their mouths if they are white,' she said last night at a forum on race
with the other six DNC candidates led by MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid.
Scroll down for video
DNC chair candidate Sally Boynton
Brown (pictured) gave a boisterous speech last night about race
relations, suggesting that white people needed to shut up and listen
Brown
was broadly critical of the Democratic Party's dealings on race, saying
at the forum – held in D.C. last night at the George Washington
University – that leaders had failed if there's even a question about
embracing the Black Lives Matter movement.
Of course they should be for it.
'We
have to accept that there is prejudice that exists within our own party
and we have to be able to have that conversation,' she said.
'We
cannot sweep that under the rug, we can't continue to hide it, we
cannot smash voices down when they are trying to scream listen to me,
you don't get it,' she continued.
'I'm a white woman, I don't get it,' she proclaimed.
She suggested that her job, as a white American, should be to listen – and check her privilege.
Better
known candidates running for DNC chair include President Obama's former
labor secretary Thomas Perez (left), who was pro-Hillary Clinton in the
primary, and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who supported Sen. Bernie
Sanders (right)
'My job is to listen and be a voice and my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt,' she said.
'My
job is to shut other white people down when they want to say, "Oh no
I'm not prejudiced I'm a Democrat, I'm accepting,'" she continued.
'My
job is to make sure that they get that they have privilege and until we
shut our mouths and we listen to those people who don't ... we're not
going to break through this,' she went on.
As
Democrats look to who will fill the shoes of Rep. Debbie Wasserman
Schultz, who resigned as DNC chair on the eve of the Democratic National
Convention over the email hack, much has been made about the party
losing Midwestern white voters.
A trio
of Democratic-leaning Rust Belt states – Wisconsin, Michigan and
Pennsylvania – allowed for there to be a Republican President Donald
Trump.
A handful of newcomers are challenging
the old guard to become DNC chair including South Bend, Indiana Mayor
Pete Buttigieg, a 35-year-old openly gay veteran
DNC chair candidate Jehmu Greene
argued that the Democratic Party did a 'piss poor pathetic job' engaging
young people of color during last year's race
But
last night's conversation centered around how the Democrats improve
their standing in communities of color, as some have also argued that
Hillary Clinton could have won if she had gotten younger voters,
including black and Hispanic millennials, to the polls.
Brown
appeared alongside two better-known candidates, former President
Obama's ex-Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who had supported Clinton in
the primary, and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a big Sen. Bernie Sanders
supporter, who's also one of only two Muslim members of Congress.
Beyond that, a number of up-and-comers are running to become the face of the anti-Trump opposition.
There's Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, who is black.
Two party
chairs are also in the race: Jaime Harrison (left) who leads the
Democrats in South Carolina and Raymond Buckley (right) in charge of the
New Hampshire Democratic Party
There's Raymond Buckley, an openly gay, older, white politician who chairs the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
Jehmu Greene, is a black female Democratic leader, known for being a commentator on Fox News Channel.
And
finally, Pete Buttigieg, a white gay veteran, who is the current mayor
of South Bend, located, as he put it, in 'Mike Pence's Indiana.'
Buttigieg talked about how the Democratic Party has a 'salad bar problem.'
'We think the only way to speak to somebody is one group at a time,' he noted.
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