Hillary Clinton has a certain talent for appropriation and exploitation and her campaign tactics expose it all. This is the presidential hopeful's second go around for the Democrats' ticket, and she will stop at nothing to appeal to certain audiences to win a vote. Admittedly, she has a smart campaign strategy, however, a person who uses tools like pop culture to sway voters is not what citizens should look for in a potential POTUS. Further, her strategies are disrespectful to various groups of people and they need to stop.
I think the thing that pushed me aboard the Stop Hillary train was her comment during an interview on The Breakfast Club, a popular Hip Hop Radio Show stationed in New York. When host Charlamagne Tha God asked Hillary "what's something you always have in your purse?" the presidential hope responded "hot sauce." Pause.
Actually, stop. Stop, Hillary.
Anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes on the internet within the past 3 months has heard "Formation" by Beyoncé. Even if you don't know the song, you know one of the song's most popular lines "I got hot sauce in my bag, swag." Now, there's an off chance that Hillary actually carried hot sauce before the song and this interview, but I googled it. There are no signs or mentions of Hillary Clinton with hot sauce in her bag. She has never been in formation, and this is one of many examples of how she tries to appeal to the masses through appropriation. Here's more of Hillary hip-hopping for votes during the interview!
Hillary's faux formation does not stop at Beyoncé fans and Breakfast Club viewers. Just recently she has also created a(n actual) woman card. The card came about after Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump claimed that Hillary only "has the woman card" to keep her in the race for president. Hillary used this comment as an opportunity to get women to stand together against Donald Trump and against sexism. I applaud this effort. Sexism, especially when overtly demonstrated by a US Presidential Hopeful, is unacceptable, and Donald Trump is a monstrous clown who also needs to be stopped. I realized, though, that these women cards were swiped from a feminist statement, but they don't benefit women, only Hillary and her campaign. The purpose of the card is for women to donate to Hillary's campaign. Yes, Hillary Clinton is using her sex to get women to donate to her already multimillion dollar campaign. At least she's building unity against Trump, though.
Would setting up the card system to contribute donations for scholarships or women's shelters or women's rights campaigns/organizations be beneficial to women across America? Maybe. Would even a small percentage of what's donated to Hillary's campaign help? Yes, I would like to think so. Does her platform and policies focus on these entities so in the long run the donations essentially go to these causes? Sure, but lets ingore all of Donald Trump's other sexist comments towards women and women's right. lets use this one comment towards Hillary to get more money by exploiting women. way to make Donald eat his words, Hillary.
The most bothersome about Hillary's manipulative tactics is that she is so bad at seeming genuine. I thought a good politician was a master of disguise. Hillary's falsehood is always so apparent to me, yet somehow she always WOOs the crowd. I guess her ability to avoid addressing intersectional issues in her feminist platform, yet using black women such as Viola Davis and Kerry Washington to appeal to an intersectional voting pool helps keep everyone happy. Hillary knows how to keep her appropriated groups contained within her exploited group. Good job. We may never know which Hillary we'll get when she makes appearances, but her policies show the true Hillary.
On a lighter note, I'll leave you with an ad (idea) for the 2016 Clinton Campaign:
Hillary slides you "hot sauce" from her bag as you get in formation. "Drop" her support on a (1994 crime) bill that criminalize and incarcerate black youth; she "regrets" it 14 later. Then, she "whips" close the jail cell on millions of the sons and husbands and brothers of women of color. Finally, she "Nae Nae" her way into office. Swag.
