By: Cheryl Smith
You know, lately I’ve been hearing a lot about older people needing to sit down and let young people rule the world.
There are dynamic, actually brilliant young men and women who could do a better job than their parents or grandparents, and imagine, if you will, the best of both worlds—the seasoned and the rising—collaborating.
You won’t find Laura Loomer in either group. She is not one of those bright, intelligent, articulate, strategic, conscientious people you want running your country.
Now, granted, she’s 33 years old. When people think of her, they think of someone who is, among other things, a conspiracy theorist, a podcast host, an Internet personality, and a loyal Donald Trump supporter. She says she is an investigative journalist.
Lately, she has exhibited behavior that I hope any sound person of conscience would deem embarrassing, inappropriate, disgusting, unconscionable, and disrespectful, to say the least.
Now, while her parents, Dr. Jeffrey Loomer and Joanna Hill, may not share their feelings with the world, there’s no excuse for the silence from the rest of the world.
When I mentioned young people ruling the world, I’d say we’d be in pretty good hands with the likes of a Reecie Colbert, who has impeccable credentials and is well-versed in issues that she speaks about on numerous shows, including her own, The Reecie Colbert Show on Sirius XM radio. She comes with receipts, not rhetoric.
Yes, she spoke out about Loomer’s racist rhetoric, but I still need to hear more voices, especially from those who would be shouting from the mountaintops if the tables were turned. You know what and who I’m talking about.
Colbert went for the jugular in describing not only Loomer but also her actions. Complete in Colbert style, with expletives that might even make Samuel L. Jackson blush, she blasted Loomer, who doubles down with her negative comments, especially about Black women.
How do you sit silent and let someone get away with being so blatantly racist as to talk about Black women the way Loomer does, talking about the use of leashes and writing on social media platforms, referencing a “ghetto, Black, Communist Bitch,” when referencing Rep. LaMonica McIver,
She wrote in response to criticism, “Is she ghetto? Yes. Is she black? Yes. Is she a communist? Yes. I spoke the truth.”
Now, full disclosure: if I were living in the hometown where I was born and grew up, McIver would be my Congressperson. But that’s not why I’m speaking out and condemning Loomer’s behavior.
Growing up in that district, I learned early which words I could use and which I shouldn’t.
Another disclosure — at one point in my youthful years, I called someone a “bitch.”
Lo and behold, after school, that person was waiting outside to show me what bitches do.
I learned that day “bitch” was not a word I wanted to use unless I wanted to fight.
So I did the smart thing. I apologized and asked for forgiveness, and all was well.
Earlier this year, I met the very charming Representative McIver. Not once did “ghetto” or “bitch” come into my head as I talked with her.
I’m sorry that her family, loved ones, and constituents had to hear her referred to that way. And she’s not the only one subjected to these stupid verbal assaults.
Haven’t we taken enough?
And no one gets a pass. Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell had the nerve to wear a shirt calling the Hon. Kamala Harris a tramp, as he showed his support for his president, Trump.
Is Trump condoning this behavior? He’s not condemning it!
Interestingly, Bell and Loomer were born a little over a year apart. I wonder how the women and Bell’s family felt about his shirt. No men in my family or life can wear a shirt degrading a Black woman—heck, I am a Black woman who came from a Black woman!
I also thank those like Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pastor Frederick Douglass Haynes, and journalist Roland Martin, who joined Colbert in condemning Loomer’s racist comments. Even former U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly condemned Loomer’s remarks.
As long as Loomer’s behavior continues, there should be people speaking up, and they don’t have to be Black.
Loomer will have her day. Sadly, she doesn’t realize she’ll have to pay the piper, and it will not be pretty, because it might be her grandchild who asks, “How could you…?”
And nothing she says will make sense!
