Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) launched into a lesson on white privilege during the Democrat presidential primary debate in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday night.
“I don’t believe that is the responsibility of Cory and Kamala to be the only voice that takes on these issues of institutional racism,” Gillibrand said. “I think, as a white woman of privilege, who is a U.S. senator running for president of the United States, it is also my responsibility to lift up those voices that aren’t being listened to.”
Gillibrand then claimed she could “explain” what white privilege is to women who previously voted for President Donald Trump.
“I can talk to those white women in the suburbs that voted for Trump and explain to them what white privilege actually is,” Gillibrand continued.
“When their son is walking down a street with a bag of M&M’s in his pocket, wearing a hoodie, his whiteness is what protects him from not being shot,” Gillibrand claimed. “When their child has a car that breaks down and he knocks on someone’s door for help and the door opens and help is given, it’s his whiteness that protects him from not being shot.”
“That is what white privilege is today,” Gillibrand added.
Gillibrand then said that communities can be enriched when Americans work “together.”
“My responsibility is to not only lift up those stories but to explain to communities across America, like I did in Youngstown, Ohio, to a young mother, that this is all about responsibilities and that together we can make our communities stronger,” Gillibrand concluded.”
This month, Gillibrand stated, “I have benefited because of my whiteness, and that’s just a fact.”
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