No one thought that Stacey Abrams would have it easy. A single, black woman running as a Democrat for governor in Georgia, she was bound to encounter the kind of old school racism that we associate with the American South. Many didn’t think that Abrams would win the primary, especially given that she was running against a moderate white woman who had the backing of several prominent Democrats in the state. But she won easily—making her the country’s first ever black female Democratic nominee for governor and setting her up for an onslaught of racist vitriol from the press and voters alike.
Earlier this month, Abrams made a campaign stop in Augusta, Georgia, where she focused on the needs of female veterans and their dependents. During the event, five members of a white supremacist group, the Nationalist Liberty Union (NLU), showed up to demonstrate their support of confederate monuments and also Brian Kemp, Abrams’s Republican opponent.
Jason Johnson, Politics Editor at The Root wrote this about the NLU:
These aren’t your run-of-the-mill Georgia racists that might end up showing their asses (literally) in a Sasha Baron Cohen skit; these men are thugs, felons and terrorist sympathizers.
Johnson is right. These men are not interested in a debate of ideas and shouldn’t be engaged as equals who simply possess a difference in opinions. One member of the group, James Stachowiak, is especially known for his videos on social media where he routinely calls for his fellow “patriots” to shoot black people on sight. Now, one would think that these folks might have some reluctance to show up to an event like this. But we know better. White supremacists don’t care who they offend and, apparently, the ones today no longer care about being outed—so they can’t be bothered to wear hoods.
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To that end, it’s of little surprise that they showed up at this event, in all their supremacist glory, which was being headlined by a black woman candidate for governor in a room full of black female veterans. They began by taking up space, talking over the questions of veterans and yelling at Abrams about her position on confederate statues. Later, outside of the event, one of them proceeded to yell racial slurs and attack a veteran about her support of Abrams’s positions—even though he admits that he has never served in the military.
Generally, black women are used to white men’s nonsense. When you grow up black and female in America, you quickly understand that there are multiple obstacles to your success based on your race and gender. A lot of those barriers are the result of policies and practices born of white men in order to help them retain power and privilege. Knowing this as a black woman, you do your best to go around them—and you get used to, as our grandmothers are fond of saying, “making a way out of no way.” That’s why Abrams and these incredible black women veterans handled these white supremacists the way they did. Though they truly deserved a good old-fashioned ass kicking and jail time (after all, they threatened an armed revolt if Abrams wins), these black women responded with saint-like patience and kindness.
For the record, their kindness and willingness to engage these white supremacists was not deserved.
These horrific men crashed a campaign event designed to center black female veterans and spouted nonsense about Stone Mountain and demanded to keep their guns. It was racist, violent, and frightening. And black women, who had no reason to be anything less than angry, kept their wits about them and de-escalated the angry white men who were threatening to harm them.
These events are bad enough. They speak to how the kind of racist barriers Abrams faces in this race and will face if she is elected. They also highlight the boldness of white supremacists who were driven mad by eight years of a black president and have been reinvigorated by Donald Trump. In this historic race, this kind of thing should have made national news. It didn’t. But it also didn’t really make local news either. Apparently, journalists in Georgia thought this was business as usual. According to Johnson, only two outlets covered it. And they failed to mention the fact that these men were not only members of a white nationalist group but that they are also supporters of Kemp—the white guy in the governor’s race who is also very pro-gun and anti-immigrant.
Augusta ABC affiliate WJBF covered the event and even showed the white nationalist asking his question but neglected to mention he was part of a Kemp-supporting hate group.
WFXG Fox 5 Augusta was there and didn’t bother to investigate the men either.
Way to have balanced coverage there, folks. This tells us that Georgia is closer to its terrible racist past than its residents want us to believe. It also tells us that newsrooms covering state politics in Georgia are filled with white men who don’t think white supremacist threats against the first black female candidate for governor are important. And her repulsive Republican opponent, who must have surely heard about it, can’t be bothered to issue a statement and distance himself from these trolls.
But don’t worry. The Georgia press is super busy and right on the case when it comes to how much debt Abrams has accrued, the fact that she’s been endorsed by the metro Atlanta chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, and casting suspicion on her work with the New Georgia Project to register voters of color in the state. If Abrams wins the race (and let’s hope with all our might that she does as current polls have her up slightly but within the margin of error), it won’t be because she got decent coverage in local press. But, as a black woman, she’ll be used to that by now. With six weeks left in the race, what’s most important is that Abrams has the support she needs to run a great ground game, and that the same voters that helped her secure a momentous and historic win in May come out in full-force in November.
