White Democrats must drop out of California's Senate race, or they aren't actually committed to diversity, a guest essay in the Washington Post argued.
Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have already thrown their hat in the ring in the Senate race to fill the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat. But author and podcast host Steve Phillips urged them to step aside and allow U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. a Black woman, to take the lead instead, to prove they "care about diversity."
"Time and again it has been shown that Black women are the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. Democrats across the country agree that Black women are badly underrepresented in our nation’s leadership. Schiff and Porter are White; Lee is a Black woman. The right course is clear, isn’t it?" he wrote in his opinion column.
The White Democrats could show their "courage" and commitment to the party's principles if they dropped out, he argued.
Phillips said it was a "moral imperative" for Lee to win the Senate seat, citing the scarcity of Black females in the Senate throughout U.S. history. But the writer said electing Lee would have other benefits too, besides making the upper chamber more racially diverse.
Lee would further Feinstein's legacy as a trailblazer and better represent the majority of state residents who identify as people of color. But most importantly, he argued, "she has proved to be an effective legislator who can work across the aisle on a variety of issues while maintaining her progressive values."
If Schiff and Porter want to do more than "pay lip service" to diversity, then they should "sacrifice their egos and ambitions" for the cause, he said.
"California’s Democratic leaders have an opportunity to do more than pay lip service to their rhetoric around diversity. It wouldn’t hurt to remind them that Harris gave up one of California’s seats to serve the country. They need to know, and show, that forcing genuine equality isn’t easy or comfortable," Phillips wrote. "It requires hard decisions, especially for White people who might have to disappoint their friends or sacrifice their egos and ambitions for the sake of the larger cause."
After Sen. Feinstein passed away at 90 in September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Democratic strategist Laphonza Butler to temporarily fill her seat. Some progressives celebrated the governor fulfilling his oath to replace an empty Senate seat with a Black woman, while others criticized it.
Rep. Lee called the appointment, "insulting," since it would only be temporary ahead of the primary.
"The idea that a Black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless Black women across this country who have carried the Democratic Party to victory election after election," Lee said in a statement.
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