By EMILY SAKOWSKI
Following rapper Killer Mike’s controversial remarks that Hillary Clinton is running on gender, Ramapo College women have mixed views about Clinton’s stance on social justice platforms.
CNN News published a story Feb. 17 about rapper Killer Mike’s criticism of Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton saying that as the only standing woman candidate she might “do more” to speak for social justice and equity for minority groups.
“A uterus doesn’t qualify you to be president of the United States. You have to have policy that’s reflective of social justice,” he said in reference to his conversation with Jane Elliot, a female progressive. The rapper spoke about this during a rally at Morehouse College, according to CNN.
Despite the rapper’s remarks, Hillary Clinton claims to have established plans to bring women’s and minorities’ equity to the forefront should she become the next commander in chief. Her website highlights her stances on these issues, and she stresses that, “Too often, these are called women’s issues. Well, I am a proud lifelong fighter for women’s issues, because I firmly believe what’s good for women is good for America. … As far as I’m concerned, any issue that affects women’s lives and futures is a women’s issue.”
When asked about Clinton’s social justice platforms, Ramapo College women had varying views. “I feel as though she has enough initiatives but I am concerned about her motivations to follow through with the initiatives because of her ties to big companies,” said Kaitlyn Lane, 21 of Lincroft and a senior psychology major.
Another victory for Clinton
After Clinton’s win in the Nevada caucus on Feb. 20, news companies like NBC have projected her to be in good shape as the fight for the Democratic nomination progresses. With the super delegates flocking to her, she appears to be on a roll. Altogether, Clinton has racked up 502 delegates compared to Bernie Sanders more modest 70.
Killer Mike, a proclaimed Bernie Sanders’ supporter, isn’t convinced. His statements about the Democratic frontrunner indicate his dissatisfaction with how she has addressed social justice issues. He said further of his conversation with Elliot, “Paying women a fair wage is social justice. Making sure minorities have jobs is social justice.”
The rapper received criticism on social media from his controversial comments about Clinton, but defended his statements despite the backlash. According to the same article from CNN, he responded that he did not mean to attack her campaign personally, he was merely passing on a message he had been given. “But I didn’t say that a progressive activist woman said to me,” the rapper retorted after a Twitter user told him “sexism isn’t cute.”
PHOTO/CREATIVE COMMONS
Although Lane feels Hillary Clinton has the right number of social justice initiatives, she remains torn as to whether she thinks Clinton will execute them. “I think that she has the ideas but I’m not sure if she will actually follow through with them if she were president,” she said.
Other Ramapo women aren’t even calculating whether Clinton has enough social justice initiatives in place. To Meredith Mancuso, 20 and a nursing major from Bridgewater, it doesn’t matter matter either way. “I just think she has too much bad press to be president,” she said.
With Super Tuesday approaching quickly on March 1, it will be interesting to see whether Hillary Clinton can hold her lead in the battle for the Democratic nomination.
[AUDIO: Listen to James Perlas, 21 of Cresskill, NJ, talk about his views on Clinton’s social justice platforms.]
From this story I learned that Clinton had racked up 502 delegates while Bernie Sanders only had 70. I feel like the issue of voters at Ramapo being torn about Hilary was captured well in this story. The links worked well with this story as well.