Meghan McCain Plays Herself Publicly Once Again With Identity Politics Comments Invoking Martin Luther King Jr.
Meghan McCain is back in the public discourse once more, proving that The View will be renewing that contract until the end of time.
On the show, discussion turned to the controversy between the White House and two Asian-American Democratic senators over a lack of AAPI representation in the Biden administration. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth threatened to block President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees unless he named more Asian-Americans to senior roles in the administration, especially in wake of the terrorism in Atlanta.
I mean, it sounds like they are holding Biden accountable and using their power to leverage change. I wish the Dems did that more honestly.
Trying to turn this into a chance to dunk on identity politics, McCain said that this was leading to a place where “race and gender is more important than your skill qualifications” and that this is not the world that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of.
Meghan McCain: “We’ve only had one Asian American host co-host host this show. Does that mean one of us should be leaving because there’s not enough representation? We’re talking about — is identity politics more important than the qualifications for the job?” pic.twitter.com/0nN1ilB9Nn
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 24, 2021
There is nothing that makes Black people across the globe angry like a white person taking a Martin Luther King Jr. quote out of context and using it to fight against the progressive politics he was fighting for.
Here’s the thing: When certain groups have been kept out of opportunities because of sexism, racism, and homophobia for a majority of the time of a country’s existence, then parity is something that needs to happen. Parity is the state or condition of being equal, especially regarding status or pay. That doesn’t happen in a generation. Hell, sometimes it can’t even happen over multiple generations. It requires the same amount of effort and time taken to uphold those horrid institutions.
When it comes to jobs, college, etc., we know that it isn’t always about what you have done—it is about who you know. As the daughter of Senator John McCain, Meghan should be familiar with this concept. And that’s not a neg, that’s just the reality. When you look at a huge majority of younger famous people or famous people in general, many of them are related to someone famous or important in the industry. Merit has never been the main way people achieved anything. History is filled of people born into wealth, influence, and with a path to greatness very well prepared for them.
Not to mention picking from a pool of of BIPOC people does not mean you aren’t picking someone qualified. Not every place is Condé Nast. Plus, I love how Meghan’s question is framed that someone has to give up something. Why not just find a qualified Asian person to join the team? It’s not as if everyone there has a journalist background.
Mindy Kaling, Priyanka Chopra, and Connie Chung are three women off the top of my head that fit the brand and would be more than qualified. And that’s a very short list that I made without ABC’s vast ability to check and double check for people.
Co-host Sunny Hostin pushed back, saying, “It’s not about gender and race being more important than qualifications. It’s about the fact that there are many qualified women and minority candidates that never get the opportunity because of the advancement of generally white male mediocrity.”
Exactly.
It is that kind of dog-whistle language by McCain that makes it hard for everyday people to understand why certain groups get priority and why that is important. When people like McCain invoke King—especially a line from a speech he made during a march to help get jobs for Black people—to tear down identity politics they are only showing they are aware of no more than the spark notes of racial justice.
(image: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
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