Politics January 16, 2017
Some know Tomi Lahren as the outspoken star of viral Facebook videos with the Blaze, and love how she never holds back her opinion. Others see her as the most infamous guest ever to appear on Trevor Noah’s “The Daily Show.”
Lahren’s shocking comments on the “The Daily Show” back in December are just a few of the many questionable remarks the political commentator has made throughout her career on screen. Here are five shocking instances where some people believe Tomi Lahren crossed the line from opinionated political analyst to racist.
Why not start with the most well-known of Lahren’s questionable media appearances? That, of course, is when Lahren made headlines as a guest of Trevor Noah late last year. Noah began the interview asking, “Why are you so angry?” Lahren replied, “There are things that need to be said and a lot of people are afraid to say them.”
And she certainly wasn’t afraid to say anything. While the entire video is definitely worth watching, some of her more shocking (or truthful moments, depending on what side you stand) include Lahren’s comments that she doesn’t “see color.”
READ MORE: Tomi Lahren and Trevor Noah Clash on ‘The Daily Show’ (VIDEO)
But the problem is, being colorblind doesn’t mean you’re not a racist. On the surface, seeing everyone as “human” might sound like a great way to fight racism. However, as Everyday Feminism explains, “color blindness” actually:
The truth is, the idea of everyone just being “human” and race not mattering is a lovely, idealized thought. Who knows? Maybe even one day “colorblindness” can actually result in fair representation and increased diversity.
Today, however, race does matter – and only by seeing race can people correct issues like oppression or prejudice.
Even before her appearance on “The Daily Show,” Lahren made waves in social media by tweeting, “Meet the new KKK, they call themselves ‘Black Lives Matter’ but make no mistake their goals are far from equality. #Dallas #bluelivesmatter.” She shared the message shortly after five police officers in Dallas, Texas, were fatally shot and several others were wounded.
Lahren tried to explain her reasoning to Trevor Noah, saying she believes the BLM movement “started with good intentions” but she “lost respect” for it once participants started “pushing the false narrative” of “hands up, don’t shoot” and “rioting and looting and burning and militant actions.”
The problem with her argument is that, as Noah accuses her, Lahren is equating a minority of Black Lives Matter participants with the entire movement. Not only that, but examining the Civil Rights movements from the 1960s also reveals important distinctions between causing violence and revealing it. As the Huffington Post points out, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote from a jailhouse in Birmingham: “You assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn’t this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery?”
@JackStar016 tomi lahren, the witch herself, compared BLM to the KKK. A group who simply wants to end racism compared to a terrorist group
— daniel (@dnlbrdy) December 29, 2016
And Tomi lahren’s comparison of BLM to the kkk is doing nothing but contributing to that misunderstanding.
— Not Donald Glover (@Deeoderant) December 13, 2016
Tomi Lahren: BLM is the new KKK
Tomi: Beyoncé is a whorish drug dealer’s wife
Tomi: WHY AM I GETTING ATTACKED THIS ISN’T FAIR pic.twitter.com/zKsE9mPkyF
— Tomi Larynx (@ultimatenegro) December 10, 2016
Yes, you may disagree with the Black Lives Matter movement from its platform to its tactics. However, summarizing the BLM movement as one of pure violence is just another way of silencing the people who are fighting to have a voice.
It’s a story that has recently rocked the nation: Four black teenagers kidnapped a disabled white man in Chicago and shared how they tortured him on Facebook Live. As they cut off his hair and clothing, the teens commented, “F-ck white people” and “F-ck Donald Trump.” President Barack Obama called the attack “despicable” and the story received coverage all over the U.S. and the world. However, Lahren announced in a Facebook video with The Blaze that this coverage wasn’t enough – at least compared to the coverage given to Dylan Roof’s fatal shooting of nine black members of a South Carolina church.
“If the race roles were reversed here, can you imagine the coverage?” Lahren said. “The race of the assailants would be plastered on every deadline from here to Timbuktu, but if it doesn’t fit the race-baiting agenda of the left and their cohorts in the mainstream, it doesn’t quite get the same attention.”
One of the most troubling comments Lahren made, though, again has to deal with Black Lives Matter. She tweeted, “We don’t know if BLM motivated this awful attack. I do hope the group comes out and makes it clear/rejects 4 thugs involved.”
It goes without saying that the actions being branded by the far-right as the “BLM Kidnapping” have nothing to do w/ the movement.
— deray mckesson (@deray) January 5, 2017
As author D. Watkins at Salon explains, one of the biggest problems with Lahren’s reaction is that she’s using her platform to “create false ideas about black people.” If she assumes that every crime performed by black people has ties to BLM, should others assume that every crime performed by white people has ties to her channel – or any other white celebrity?
Not only that, but while Lahren is yelling, “Racism!” at these four black teens, she’s not highlighting the racism that drove Dylan Roof’s attack. Both stories were horrible and, yes, both stories could have racial motivations. But how about focusing less on which story gets the “most” media coverage and more on how to solve the underlying problems that caused these tragedies in the first place?
Perhaps more so than any other president’s, Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration has earned plenty of media attention. So, of course, Lahren also gave her two cents when appearing on Fox News show “The O’Reilly Factor” in December. Lahren claimed that “tolerance is really one-sided” in terms of “the left’s” reaction to Kanye West’s appearance with Donald Trump.
READ MORE: 5 Signs the Forthcoming Trump Presidency Could Normalize Racism
“They seem to be pretty accepting when their narrative is pushed, but as soon as Kanye West ventures over to the other side, that’s somehow unacceptable,” she continued. “They don’t want ‘theirs’ to be mixing with ‘ours.’ It’s amazing.” She further argued that A-listers are declining to perform at Trump’s inauguration because they fear backlash from left-wing fans.
Even more recently, Lahren blasted Meryl Streep for her anti-Trump speech. On Facebook, Lahren said, “Last night, Meryl Streep stood in front of a theater of rich Hollywood liberals to prove how out of touch Hollywood is with the rest of the country.”
There’s no denying that Meryl Streep’s speech and Kayne West’s appearance with Donald Trump angered a lot of people. You just need to look on Twitter to see that.
There ARE people in Hollywood with a brain! Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn not amused by Meryl Streep’s anti-TRUMP speech. #MAGA #TrumpTrain pic.twitter.com/p0JEPzyEhK
— Michael Nöthem (@mikandynothem) January 13, 2017
Share if you’re tired of whiny Hollywood brats! #MAGA #Trump #tcot #MerylStreep #entitled pic.twitter.com/iKQHhWpCn1
— The Rebel (@TheRebelTV) January 14, 2017
@kanyewest Tool! You’ve been played by T#*%p with a huge assist by your ego fool! You need to check back into that mental health facility. #Fool
— Baa Ram-Ewe (@SeabiscuitAAL) December 13, 2016
@kanyewest I could go on for hours, but my point is- you were used as a pawn to distract from Trump’s emerging authoritarian kleptocracy.
— ACon, not Akon. (@anconl16) December 13, 2016
However, Lahren’s commentary on these instances reveals a flaw that keeps showing up in her videos: By highlighting – even sensationalizing – political and/or racial tensions, “Lahren is helping to deepen the political divide in America – one she often complains about,” according to the Huffington Post.
Basically? Talking about America’s political divide is a long step away from trying to fix it.
Remember Beyoncé’s Super Bowl appearance which got everyone talking – and not just because of her epic music? Lahren wasn’t a fan of the singer using her platform as a tribute to Black Lives Matter and the Black Panthers and, as usual, she didn’t hold her tongue.
“Congratulations, Beyonce, you made your statement,” she said. “The Super Bowl, the most watched event on television. A game that brings Americans of every color, background and political party together. A game where black fans cheer next to white fans.” The heart of her troubling comments, though, appears when she says, “You’re just like President Obama, Jada Pinkett Smith, Al Sharpton and so many others just can’t let America heal, keep ripping off the historical Band-Aid. Why be a cultural leader when you can play the victim, right?”
So Tomi Lahren said Beyonce cares more about shaking her butt at the Super Bowl than speaking on the violence in black communities????????
— Taylor Lee (@tay_mort) December 22, 2016
“Beyonce displays so much black excellence it threatens my white superiority complex HALPPPP!”
-Tomi Lahren https://t.co/iQqrrboFaV— master of none (@molmonahan) December 29, 2016
who does tomi lahren think she is trying to shame beyonce smh
— dailyn? (@dailynmorris) January 4, 2017
It’s a well-known theory in feminist and racial studies that, when there is racism or sexism in a society, people often blame those who raise awareness of the problem. Just imagine that you’re sitting at the dinner table and your uncle makes a racist joke. You call him out on it and suddenly your family blames you for “causing trouble.” As scholar Sarah Amhed writes in Feminist Killjoys (And Other Willful Subjects): “That you have described what was said by another as a problem means you have created a problem.”
READ MORE: How to Stand up to Someone Who’s Making Racist Jokes
In the case of Lahren, she’s the family member who’s blaming Beyonce and other black celebrities for “stirring up trouble.” The truth is, racial problems haven’t been “healed” or covered with a band-aid. They’re still alive and rampant – just consider the fact that a 2015 survey found that 53 percent of blacks reported experiencing discrimination in the last month and only 43 percent of whites consider racism a current problem compared to 66 percent of blacks and 64 percent of Hispanics.
Black celebrities aren’t the problem; currently existing racial inequalities are. And when it comes to truly putting a healing “band-aid” on America’s racial problems, blaming celebrity activists for current racial issues – rather than examining personal and structural causes – certainly isn’t going to help.
Tomi Lahren’s claim to fame has relied, in many cases, upon controversy. After all, if there weren’t any controversial political topics to report on, what could she talk about in her Facebook videos anyway?
However, Lahren’s words serve a much greater purpose than mere entertainment; as she appears on reputable political shows like “The Daily Show” or “The O’Reilly Factor,” she is depicted as a responsible newscaster worthy of educating others on political topics. In other words, she wields a lot of political power, online and off, which is why these instances that many see as racist are even more troubling.
However, Lahren’s comments aren’t just told one time on a Facebook video. They’re distributed throughout the world, thanks to the Internet, and viewers can look to her to shape their own political views. Do we really want our children – or our fellow Americans – adopting similar perspectives that the BLM is the new KKK or that blacks are responsible for their own oppression?
Can we all just leave Tomi Lahren in 2016. I’m so sick of that racist rat?
— BadBen☝?️ (@BadBennyG) December 31, 2016
I don’t think so – which is why it might be time for us to join the countless others who’ve already called out Tomi Lahren for comments that not only hurt the black community, but all of America too.
