Candace Owens is a young black woman who has gained a following as a vocal Trump supporter and critic of BLM. In this tweet, she critiques Amy Schumer for protesting Judge Kavanaugh yesterday:
Why are wealthy liberal white girls holding the ‘black power’ symbol while begging to be arrested for their temper tantrums?
In what over-privileged, bratty alternate universe do these Hollywood elitists think they live in? @amyschumer, sit down, clown. pic.twitter.com/XOiTf3zoPu
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 5, 2018
If conservative advocates were protesting on behalf of Kavanaugh, I am quite sure that Owens would not denounce their protest as a “temper tantrum.” If James Woods were protesting, I’m sure she wouldn’t denounce him as a wealthy conservative, over-privileged Hollywood elitist. If it were Clint Eastwood, I’m sure she wouldn’t complain about “white old men” and tell him to “sit down, clown.”
It isn’t simply about Candace Owens. One finds this same attitude of disparagement on all sides. It seems like most people only appreciate politically engaged protest when it matches up to their agenda. That’s deeply unfortunate because a healthy democracy requires an active, politically engaged electorate across the political spectrum, not just on the issues that we happen to agree with.
