In 1996, Hillary Clinton labeled some urban youth as “super predators” with “no conscience, no empathy,” adding that before we could try to understand their choices, the children must brought “to heel.” Yes, “heel” like training a dog, not “heal” like helping a child who has suffered from the trauma of poverty and life in a violent community.
Tonight, two Black Lives Matter youth activists interrupted a pricey Hillary fundraiser in South Carolina and attempted to hold Hillary accountable for her cruel language.
Here’s what happened:
Williams said she and her colleague strategically placed themselves at the front of the crowd and waited until Clinton appeared. Speakers introducing Clinton around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night spoke of Walter Scott, the Charleston A.M.E. shootings and how Clinton had a strong record of racial justice.
As Clinton spoke to the crowd, Williams stood to her side and held a sign quoting controversial statements made in 1996 when she said "we have to bring them to heel" in reference to at-risk youth.
Williams said when Clinton paused and looked at her sign, she then asked the former secretary of state to apologize to black people for mass incarceration. The mostly white audience yelled at Williams and told her she was being rude.
"I wanted to bring her to confront her own words," Williams told The Huffington Post after the protest, adding, "We did this because we wanted to make sure that black people are paying attention to her record, and we want to know what Hillary we are getting."
Williams told The Huffington Post that the Secret Service threw her out out of the event.
While it’s unclear if Hillary apologized or not — it seems had she apologized, the activists would have expressed this to the media — it is very clear that Hillary’s wealthy white supporters treated these courageous activists with contempt, yelling at the young people and calling them “rude.” (UPDATE: Based on video of the protest, Hillary refused to apologize.)
Really, rude? If what these young people did was “rude,” how do we describe Hillary’s unconscionable diction in 1996?
The activists had done their homework before coming to the dinner.
Williams, who is from Charlotte, North Carolina, said she was motivated to protest because policies during President Bill Clinton's administration led to an increase in mass incarceration that mostly struck black communities. She pointed to the three-strike federal laws, the elimination of rehabilitative programs and an emphasis on prison construction that were part of the Clinton legacy on crime.
Clinton has distanced herself from these policies and recently issued a detailed agenda on racial justice. But Williams wants more.
“Hillary Clinton has a pattern of throwing the Black community under the bus when it serves her politically," Williams said in a statement before the event. "She called our boys ‘super-predators’ in ’96, then she race-baited when running against Obama in ‘08, now she’s a lifelong civil rights activist. I just want to know which Hillary is running for President, the one from ’96, ’08, or the new Hillary?”
As you might expect, Hillary’s campaign is declining to comment about the incident.