Twice-failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams appeared on “The ReidOut” on Monday to discuss the lack of black women in the United States Senate, stating that the electorate does not want black women in major political roles.
“Black women are seen as useful and necessary in propping up and supporting most of the facets of American society. But we’re rarely seen as capable of actually leading. And part of our responsibility both as Democrats but more broadly as Americans is to widen our aperture and to understand that black women can lead,” Abrams said. (RELATED: The Worst State … To Live’: Stacey Abrams Destroys Georgia Despite Owning Multiple Homes There)
“We have got to break through this notion that black women cannot hold these executive jobs, cannot hold these statewide jobs,” she added.
Abrams added that the lack of black female representation is a broader American issue everyone should care about regardless of party affiliation.
The MSNBC host then asked Abrams her opinion on the potential of a black woman replacing Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
“I’ve endorsed Barbara Lee … she is certainly a representative of the black community she has also been just a stalwart for progressive issues for more than 35 years … But I think that what the governor’s going to face, what voters are going to have to face — we have to create the reality we want to see … I believe that if we want a truly representative society, if we want diversity to be more more than a tag line we’ve got to do the work — that sometimes means we have to not vote for our friends, or we have to vote for one friend over the other in order to make representation real.”