The nomination of Vanita Gupta, an exceptionally well-qualified nominee for the No. 3 spot at the Justice Department and the recipient of numerous endorsements from law enforcement, moved ahead by a 50-to-49 margin in the Senate on Monday despite the hysterical allegations from Republicans that she is “radical,” “extreme” or “anti-police.”
That move comes after Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee attacked Kristen Clarke, another immensely qualified civil rights lawyer who was nominated to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Republicans’ spurious claims against Clarke included that she is antisemitic (roundly rejected by Jewish organizations), that she supports defunding the police (she doesn’t) and, again, that she is radical.
Two related phenomena are at work here. Both are features of a MAGA party that insists White Christians are the real victims in American society.
First, the Republican Party, as it morphs into a party of white supremacy and grievance (including embracing “replacement” theory), is increasingly using women of color (e.g., Gupta, Clarke, Neera Tanden, California Rep. Maxine Waters) to frighten and anger its White, male base. For the MAGA crowd, both their gender and their race are a threat. These women are “harsh” and “angry.” They want radical change, Republicans claim, that will make America unrecognizable.
Second, Republicans have endeavored for years to turn the meaning of “civil rights” upside down and to dismantle the Justice Department’s role in enforcing it. Instead of defending voting rights, they have set out to defend voter ID requirements that disproportionately burden minorities and the poor. Instead of pursuing pattern-and-practice cases against police departments that routinely violate civil rights, they wave the Blue Lives Matter banner. (Regarding the trial of one of the most vivid examples of police violence against a Black man, Fox News’s Tucker Carlson on Monday had the nerve to call former police officer Derek Chauvin the victim of a media “lynching.”) (Disclosure: I am an MSNBC contributor.)
The White grievance party asserts that there is no such thing as systemic racism. Indeed, they take great offense when reminded that the promise of equality under law has yet to be fulfilled. (They would have us ignore the legacy of discrimination in housing, criminal justice, health care, family wealth and almost every facet of American life.) Pointing to the endemic scourge of racism, they say, is excessively critical of American history and insufficiently patriotic. They remain emphatic that Whites are the real victims.
If there’s no systemic racism, then the civil rights lawyers at the Justice Department are just troublemakers. They are the bad guys and gals; Whites are the victims. This is a mainstream view among Republicans, sadly.
It’s clear why strong, committed civil rights advocates such as Gupta and Clarke pose such a threat to the right. Their life’s work is a testament to the unfilled promise of America and the fight against persistent racism and other forms of bigotry. They are committed to prosecuting perpetrators of police violence, battling GOP interference with access to voting, enforcing fair housing laws and using the full power of the Justice Department to apply the Constitution and civil rights laws.
Republicans, in their twisted worldview, often see that as a persecution of Whites. Their party is bent on enraging its base and convincing them they are at risk of being replaced by people of color. An effective civil rights division would prosecute the White supremacist groups whom Republicans have increasingly attempted to normalize and defend, and would routinely show Republicans’ victimology to be laughably contrived.
No two lawyers other than Gupta and Clarke would make the Justice Department more competent and determined in defending civil rights. Hence, the furious effort to smear them continues.
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