Symone Sanders Rips Sarah Sanders’ Call for Civility: We’d Still be Segregated If Not for Confrontational Civility 

Democratic strategist Symone Sanders pulled no punches blasting White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her harassment claims during a panel discussion on Monday.

The owner of the “Red Hen” restaurant, Stephanie Wilkinson, in Lexington, Virginia asked the White House official and her family to leave the establishment on Friday and Sanders was all in her feelings.

The POTUS employee tweeted, “Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so …”

During Monday evening’s press debriefing, Sanders called for unity and said, “Healthy debate on ideas and political philosophy is important but the calls for harassment and push for any Trump supporter to avoid the public is unacceptable.” Her statement may have been a response to her restaurant fiasco and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who declared that supporters should protest against members of the Trump administration.

However, CNN contributor Symone wasn’t buying the unity act and said maybe Sarah should check her ‘privilege’.

“I think Sarah Sanders thinks she’s Rosa Parks in this situation and she’s not. I don’t want anybody coming up to me and putting me out the Shake Shack. I want to get my burger and fries in peace, but the folks calling for civility might need to check their privilege,” Symone said.

The political commentator said that Sanders may be trying to play the sympathy card and that she agreed with Waters’ idea of confronting members of the president’s administration.

“Where is the civility in the press briefing room or at the border for the children? So the conversation is one-sided and skewed. I believe movements and people talking and speaking up about civil rights should be nonviolent, but not non-confrontational. If we waited for that, we might still be sitting at segregated counters,” she added. “I just don’t think people get it.”

The ABS Newsletter — Stories that matter, in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Latest from Atlanta Black Star

Back to top