Jemele Hill: What Joe Biden Said About Black Voters ‘Was Accurate’

Jemele Hill
Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Essence
Warner Todd Huston

Former ESPN sports commentator and current Atlantic writer Jemele Hill, jumped to Twitter Friday to defend Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden’s contention that if you’re confused about who to vote for, “you ain’t black.”

Hill was incensed over the shock many whites experienced when they heard Biden say that black people are not black unless they intend to vote for him in November. The former vice president made the comments on Friday on the Breakfast Club radio broadcast cohosted by rapper Charlamagne tha God.

“If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” Biden told Charlamagne after the radio host said, “It’s a long way until November; we’ve got more questions.”

After the Internet erupted with condemnation for Biden’s comments, Hill jumped into the controversy to defend Biden.

Initially, Hill insisted that white people have no place to condemn Biden’s comments.

“Me watching white folks act outraged on behalf of black folks because Biden said, ‘if you vote for Trump, you ain’t black’ … as if these same white folks are in any position to speak about black identity or the black experience,” she wrote.

But in other tweets, Hill went further and even said that Biden’s comments were a truism and that she agrees that you can’t be black and vote for anyone other than Biden.

“The issue wasn’t what Joe Biden said, because it was accurate. The issue was that it came from Biden. It also was clearly a joke that didn’t land. But I’m wondering where all this outrage was yesterday when y’all president declared his public devotion to a Nazi sympathizer,” she tweeted:

In yet another tweet, in reply to a black voter who was upset over Biden’s comments, Hill exclaimed that what Biden said was “accurate.”

“It’s accurate because of Trump’s very clearly anti-black policies and positions,” she wrote. “So if you’re a black person voting for Trump, you are actively choosing to vote against yourself and black people. So if you’re anti-black then that makes you … what exactly?”

She also tweeted that you aren’t really black if you don’t support the candidates she supports.

“I don’t have a problem with the statement because he was clearly referring to this from a policy and track record standpoint. If you’re black and you support anti-black policies and positions, then that makes you …? You’re still technically black but you ain’t with us,” she wrote:

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.