Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Expressed Suspicion About Reparations By Asking: ‘Who Is Black?’
FEATURED PHOTO: REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ D-NEW YORK
YourBlackWorld,net, By Victor Trammell, Posted January 5th 2021
As reparations, once again, have become a popular political topic, in Black media, more journalists are asking politicians their stance on the historically-relevant question of righting a wrong.
Interviewed during the annual South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) by Senior Politics Editor, Briahna Gray ( a black woman), U.S. Representative, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (pictured) paused before answering the reparations question in 2019.
During an SXSW discussion before a live audience, Gray asked Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez:
“What is the political cost…of saying that you’re going to throw your hat in with a reparations program? How much do you think those considerations should be made?”
Ocasio-Cortez vaguely responded to Gray’s question. She never completely answered it. Instead of sharing if her platform stands for or against reparations of any kind, the representative doubled down, expanding on the wiping out blackness in America. (Iman, 2019).
“There are a lot of systems that we have to dismantle, but it also does get into this interesting area of where we are about identity, as a country. Because like what does it mean to be black? Who is black and who isn’t? Especially, as our country becomes more biracial and multiracial,” Ocasio Cortez replied.
Nicknamed AOC, the self-proclaimed “squad” member is a consummate politician. She’s not a legislative advocate, which is the job she was originally elected to do. As a U.S. House member, Ocasio-Cortez’s job is to draft, write, and sponsor U.S. House bills with the duty to care that they get signed into law. This duty must be ubiquitous on Capitol Hill.
However, according to AOC’s GovTrack report card, which grades her job in Congress, she has not introduced a single bill that has either been signed into law or expected to be signed into law. To be fair, in all reality, very few of the legislative branch’s bills get signed into law by the executive branch. Laws get repealed when better laws supersede them.
Nonetheless, the uphill battles of the American government’s legislative branch are no excuse for a U.S. House Representative to use talking points as a cop-out for not tangibly delivering to their constituency.
Maybe Ocasio-Cortez is waiting for a candidate with her ideals to win the White House one day. However, as an elected federal lawmaker, a pivotal part of her job is to draft actionable items for congressional approval. She must regularly attempt to craft and deliver legislative proposals no matter who is in the White House.
In her first term, Ocasio-Cortez has used her national platform to passionately speak her own truth. She has a good attendance record when it is time for a legislative vote. This may look good and sound good.
However, she was ultimately elected in New York to help write bills in favor of women and minorities so that they can be signed into law.
But according to the gazing watchdogs for good government with their eyes on Capitol Hill, Ocasio-Cortez’s tangible performance has been very underwhelming. Actions, not words or opinions, can change that.
