US Ambassador Asks Tone-Deaf Question to Women Brutalized by Taliban: 'Are Afghans Familiar with #BlackGirlMagic'?
Thanks to President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, that country is now back under the rule of an extreme theocratic patriarchy that treats women as chattel, at best.
Fear not, though, for Biden’s top diplomat to Afghanistan has just the answer for the benighted female population of the failed state: All they need is a little #BlackGirlMagic.
After what must rank as one of the most tone-deaf tweets in the history of the social media platform, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Mission to Afghanistan Karen Decker is apologizing for using a trending hashtag to suggest Afghan women could find inspiration from “#BlackGirlMagic” figures such as Lizzo, Beyoncé and Regina King.
“Are Afghans familiar with #BlackGirlMagic and the movement it inspired? Do Afghan girls need a similar movement?” she tweeted Wednesday.
“What about Afghan Women? Teach me, ready to learn. #BlackHistoryMonth @Beyonce @lizzo @ReginaKing.”
To paraphrase the aforementioned Lizzo, why Biden administration officials smart till they gotta be smart?
And by the way, the “#BlackGirlMagic” tweet wasn’t the only tone-deaf missive from Decker during a fusillade of Black History Month-themed messages.
In one, she noted that Super Bowl LVII would be the first to feature two black starting quarterbacks — Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Jalen Hurts of the Eagles.
“Afghans — what’s the most exciting sports match you remember? #BlackHistoryMonth,” Decker tweeted.
It probably didn’t involve women, since females have been banned from participating in sports by the Taliban, according to the U.K.’s Guardian.
And then there was this Sunday tweet: “Abe Lincoln born today in 1809. He did some stuff. It’s also NAACP Day, home of grassroots activism, inclusive communities and making sure Black voices are heard. What does that look like for Afghans struggling to be heard? #BlackHistoryMonth @NAACP @LincolnsCottage.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Biden’s ambassador to Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/clVvidaoF6
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) February 16, 2023
Decker quickly shifted from #BlackGirlMagic to #CluelessWhiteLiberalApology.
“Sometimes our best intentions go awry because we haven’t listened enough or don’t truly understand others’ lived experience,” she said in a tweet Thursday.
“My efforts to celebrate courageous African Americans this month fall in that category. I apologize to any and all who I may have offended or hurt.”
Sometimes our best intentions go awry because we haven’t listened enough or don’t truly understand others’ lived experience. My efforts to celebrate courageous African Americans this month fall in that category. I apologize to any and all who I may have offended or hurt.
— Chargé d’Affaires Karen Decker (@USAmbKabul) February 16, 2023
Uh-huh. And to make this all the more perfect, Decker’s given name is “Karen.” You can’t make this stuff up.
Of course, the grim comedy this provides for those of us who aren’t directly affected by Taliban rule doesn’t come even close to excusing the tone-deaf broadcasting of our administration’s values to the beleaguered women of Afghanistan. Oppressed, abused, treated like slaves? Look to Lizzo!
Donald Trump Jr. may have put it best.
“With that mentality, you can understand how Joe Biden and his administration lost Kabul in about minutes,” he said. “You can understand just how stupid they are.”
Don Jr. SLAMS Biden’s top diplomat in Afghanistan for tweeting about #BlackGirlMagic in response to the Taliban’s oppression of women:
“With that mentality you can understand how Joe Biden and his administration lost Kabul in minutes.”
Read more: https://t.co/Q4nj5bTQqB pic.twitter.com/ytbHoGP4lv
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 16, 2023
Well, Karen Decker did say: “Teach me, ready to learn.” Maybe she ought to start listening to Don Jr. instead of the guy who lost Afghanistan but wants to forget about it and spotlight Black History Month instead.
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