In
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politicsPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
, a
Sister SouljahSister Souljah is an American hip hop-generation author, activist, recording artist, and film producer. She is best known for Bill Clinton's criticism of her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign...
moment is a
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
's public repudiation of an allegedly
extremistExtremism is a term used to describe the actions or ideologies of individuals or groups outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
person or group, statement, or position perceived to have some association with the politician or their party. Such an act of repudiation is designed to signal to
centristIn politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting moderate policies which lie between different political extremes. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between left-wing...
voters that the politician is not beholden to traditional, and sometimes unpopular, interest groups associated with the party, although such a repudiation runs the risk of alienating some of the politician's allies and the party's base voters.
Origins
The term originates in the 1992 presidential candidacy of
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
. In an interview published May 13, 1992, the
hip-hopHip hop music is a musical genre which developed alongside hip hop culture, and is commonly based on concepts of loop, rapping, freestyle, DJing, scratching, sampling and beatboxing. The music is used to express concerns of political, social, and personal issues...
MCRapping is the rhythmic spoken delivery of rhymes, wordplay, and poetry. Rapping is a primary ingredient in hip hop music, but the phenomenon predates hip hop culture by centuries. Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without accompaniment...
, author, and political activist
Sister SouljahSister Souljah is an American hip hop-generation author, activist, recording artist, and film producer. She is best known for Bill Clinton's criticism of her remarks about race in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign...
was quoted in the
Washington Post as saying, "If Black people kill Black people every day, why not have a week and kill White people?" The remark was part of a longer response to the
1992 Los Angeles riotsThe Los Angeles Riots of 1992, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest, were sparked on April 29, 1992 when a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of African-American motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Thousands of...
. The quotation was later reproduced without the context of the complete interview and resulted in wide criticism from the media.
In June 1992, Clinton responded both to that quotation and to something she had said in a music video ("If there are any good White people, I haven't met them") while giving a speech to Jesse Jackson Sr.'s
Rainbow CoalitionRainbow/PUSH is a non-profit organization formed as a merger of two non-profit organizations — Operation PUSH and the National Rainbow Coalition — founded by Jesse Jackson. The organizations pursue social justice, civil rights and political activism.In December 1971, Jackson resigned from...
, saying, “If you took the words ‘white’ and ‘black,’ and you reversed them, you might think
David DukeDavid Ernest Duke is an American white nationalist, former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, former Republican Louisiana State Representative, perennial candidate in presidential primaries and presidential elections, and wildlife photographer.Duke describes himself as a racial...
was giving that speech.”
Prior to his appearance, Clinton's campaign staff had conducted an intense debate about how far he should go in distancing himself from Jackson, who was unpopular with white and moderate voters. When Souljah was invited to speak at the conference, Clinton's advisors saw their chance.
However, despite the
memeA meme is a postulated unit or element of cultural ideas, symbols or practices, and is transmitted from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena...
-like nature of the term in the
mainstream mediaMainstream Media is considered by some to be a catch-all term that applies to all mass media outlets in the world. It is considered by others to be a catch-all term that applies to all mass media outlets that existed in the United States of America prior to 1987.Controversy exists over the meaning...
, there is little evidence that the act by Clinton had any effect on voters' mindsets.
Clinton's response was harshly criticized by Jackson, who said Sister Souljah "represents the feelings and hopes of a whole generation of people" and claimed that she had been misquoted. Clinton was also criticized by some of the Democratic Party's other
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
supporters. Clinton was accused by Sister Souljah of being a racist and a hypocrite because he had golfed at a country club that refused to admit black members.
Other examples
As a candidate for the
Republican nomination for president in 2000The Republican Party primary began with a fairly wide field, as the Republicans lacked an incumbent President or Vice President. Texas Governor George W. Bush, son of the last Republican president, took an early lead with the support of much of the party establishment and a strong fund-raising effort...
, Texas Governor
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
, spoke before the
conservativeConservatism in the United States is a major American political philosophy. In contemporary American politics, it is often associated with the Republican Party...
Manhattan InstituteThe Manhattan Institute for Policy Research is a conservative, market-oriented think tank established in New York City in 1978 by Antony Fisher and William J...
in October 1999 saying, "Too often, on social issues, my party has painted an image of America slouching toward Gomorrah," quoting the title of a
bookSlouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline is a 1996 book by former United States Court of Appeals judge Robert H. Bork. Bork's thesis in the book is that American and more generally Western culture is in a state of decline and that the cause of this decline is modern...
by conservative
juristA jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
Robert BorkRobert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
. Bush's comments were seen as a repudiation of the religious right and an attempt to appeal to moderate voters; commentator
Charles KrauthammerCharles Krauthammer is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist and political commentator. His weekly column appears in the The Washington Post and is syndicated in more than 200 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New Republic...
called it "an ever-so-subtle Sister Souljah on Robert Bork."
Also in the 2000 campaign for the Republican nomination,
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
stated, “Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be
Louis FarrakhanLouis Farrakhan is the National Representative of the Nation of Islam. He is an advocate for black interests, and a critic of American society...
or
Al SharptonAlfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
on the left or
Pat RobertsonMarion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a televangelist from the United States. He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations, including the American Center for Law and Justice , the Christian Broadcasting Network , the Christian Coalition, Flying Hospital, International Family...
or
Jerry FalwellJerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an American evangelical Christian pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
on the right.” This was similarly seen as a repudiation of the religious right; columnist
Jacob WeisbergJacob Weisberg is an American political journalist, serving as editor-in-chief of Slate Group, a division of The Washington Post Company, and a columnist for the Financial Times. He served as the editor of Slate magazine for six years, until stepping down in June 2008...
called it "a pungent Sister Souljah moment."
During the 2008 United States presidential campaign,
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
nominee
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
experienced a number of events that were described as Sister Souljah moments. On April 29, in response to a series of provocative statements from his then-Pastor
Jeremiah Wright Jeremiah Alvesta Wright, Jr. is Pastor Emeritus and the former Pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ , a megachurch in Chicago with around 8,500 members. In early 2008, Wright retired after 36 years as the Senior Pastor of his congregation and no longer has daily responsibilities at the...
, Obama gave a speech where he distanced himself from Wright and called some of Wright's statements "a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in truth."
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
CongressmanThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
James Clyburn said of the speech, "This, I think, offers Barack Obama his Sister Souljah moment"; the speech was also described as "more than a Sister Souljah moment" by columnist
Maureen DowdMaureen Dowd is a Washington D.C.-based columnist for The New York Times. She has worked for the Times since 1983, when she joined as a metropolitan reporter...
.
On July 8, former Special Counsel to Bill Clinton
Lanny DavisLanny J. Davis is an American lawyer and former White House Counsel for President Bill Clinton.-Background:Davis grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey. His father was a dentist in Jersey City and his mother worked as the office manager of his father's dental office. As an undergraduate at Yale, he...
called Obama's decision to vote for the
FISA Amendments Act of 2008The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 is an Act of Congress that amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.-Background:...
a "Sister Souljah moment" that showed "that as president he would be more committed to the 'solutions' business than to yield to the pressure to prove his ideological purity to his party's base."
On July 10, prior to a taping of
Fox and Friends, civil-rights activist
Jesse JacksonJesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to form...
was unwittingly caught by an open microphone whispering to a fellow interviewee, saying that Barack Obama was talking down to black people; Washington post columnist
Dan BalzDaniel J. Balz is a journalist at The Washington Post, where he has been a political correspondent since 1978. Balz has served as National Editor, Political Editor, White House correspondent and as the Washington Post’s Texas-based Southwest correspondent...
called it Obama's Accidental Sister Souljah moment, saying Jackson's public image was of old-style Black politics.