Reid: GOP Wants to ‘Force Women and People of Color Back into Their Place’ Presumably, Serving and Obeying

MSNBC anchor Joy Reid said Wednesday on “The ReidOut” that Harvard University ex-president Claudine Gay’s resignation was part of Republican attempts to “force women and people of color back into their place.”

Reid said, “We need to talk about Dr. Claudine Gay, the now-former president of Harvard University. She was one of three university presidents, all women, mind you, who participated in a gotcha Republican hearing in the House last month that was designed not to illuminate anything about campus anti-Semitism as Republicans claimed but rather to put on display for the MAGA base the right’s hatred of diversity, equity and inclusion. I mean, they really hate diversity, which, of course, is the product of the 20th century they hate so much. So, everything they do is about removing diversity. The mere presence of anyone who isn’t white or male from spaces they think are reserved for white men drives them nuts. And in the wake of that hearing, the right-wing anti-DEI brigade got part of what they wanted. Days later, University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill announced she was stepping down. But the two others, Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth, remained. So naturally Claudine Gay, the only black woman on the target list, became the focal point of a legion of mediocre men whose mission is to eradicate diverse people from education, from kindergarten through Ph. D., these men accused Gay of plagiarism.”

She continued, “It is important to remember that Claudine Gay’s resignation is not an individual story. The attack on her is a symbol of a greater war against the progress of the 20th Century, which these men are determined to repeal. It’s not just undoing black educational and business progress and banning accurate black history and the boogieman Critical Race Theory. They want to force women and people of color back into their place, too. Back to the kitchen and the birthing bed, presumably, serving and obeying, just like the bad old days.”

Reid added, “Case in point, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s victory in court Tuesday. The far-right Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals has ruled that Texas can ban life-saving emergency abortions and let women die despite federal guidance requiring hospitals to provide stabilizing care. Paxton has sued the Biden administration over the guidance.”

She concluded, “Whether you’re a black woman in academia or pregnant white woman in Texas, the message to you is clear: know your place. And it’s not just right-wing men or even older people, thanks to the Tucker Carlson effect, it’s conservative young folks, too.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN