Nancy Mace threatens to fight Jasmine Crockett after misunderstanding AAVE
The AAVE slang “chile” caused a major argument during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing.
On Jan. 14, Rep. Nancy Mace and Rep. Jasmine Crockett had a fiery exchange while Crockett started her argument to reinstate a subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties, which was originally dissolved during the 118th Congress. Footage shows Mace getting heated and even threatening to get violent. Was Mace’s anger justified, or was it taken way out of proportion? Let’s discuss.
After Crockett introduced her argument during the hearing, Mace countered and claimed her motion was hypocritical and went against the rights of women. She went on a lengthy spiel concerning keeping transgender women out of women’s restrooms and detailed her experience as a sexual assault survivor. She claimed that Crockett’s notion is making women feel unsafe in this country and creating opportunities for women to be sexually assaulted in the United States.
Crockett clocked her for bringing up transgender individuals, stating. “I don’t even know how we got there. I can see that somebody’s campaign coffers really are struggling right now, so she’s gonna keep saying trans, trans, trans, so that people will feel threatened.” However, it was her next words that had Mace in an uproar.
To move on to her next point, Crockett said, “And, chile, listen.” Immediately, Mace raised her voice at Crockett, yelling, “I am no child! Do not call me a child. Don’t even start. I am a grown woman. I am 47 years old. You will not do that. If you want to take it outside, we can do that.” As Mace yelled, Crockett continued to try speaking concerning her argument.
But what does “chile” actually mean? Urban Dictionary does say it is pronounced child and is meant to be used in a patronizing or condescending manner. But when you do a deep dive on the word, the African American Vernacular English (AAVE) term is used to express shock over the ridiculousness of a situation. The term has been used as early as the 60s but became popular among Black youths when Nicki Minaj used the word in a livestream. It is often used in harmless ways, such as an exclamation.
With the term being used predominantly by the Black community, it makes sense Rep. Mace would not know the nuances behind the word. However, does that excuse her threatening violence during a hearing? No, I don’t think so.
When Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost motioned to strike Mace for her “we can take it outside” comment, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer claimed that “we can go outside” can mean many things, such as meeting for a cup of coffee or a beer. But let’s be real; we all know what “take it outside” actually means.
Nancy Mace and Jasmine Crockett take to X following viral incident
That same day, Crockett took to her X (formerly Twitter) to simply tweet, “Chile…” A few hours later, she shared a clip from the hearing, detailing how she introduced an amendment to reinstate the Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and how her Republican colleague, Mace, “threatened to physically fight me about it.”
Mace also tweeted about the situation, sharing a clip of when Crockett used the term “chile.” She claimed she did not want a physical fight but stressed that she “won’t be bullied by someone who wants to take away women’s rights while lecturing about civil rights” and by someone who “thinks being scared of rape is a ‘fantasy.'”
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