Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s personal experience with racism in her place of work — the U.S. Capitol — is catching a lot of heat from right-wingers online who believe it’s just a made-up story.
Lee, a U.S. representative who has represented the state of California since 1998, went on CNN and spoke with Kaitlan Collins about former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley‘s recent controversial comments about the U.S. not being a racist country.
During her appearance, Lee talked about a personal encounter she had with a white man in the Capitol who denied her entry to part of the building because he didn’t believe she was a member of Congress.
“I was walking from the House Building on Capitol Hill to the Capitol and a man, a white guy, stopped me and told me I could not get into the members’ elevator,” she said, adding that she was wearing a pin that Congress members wear that designates their status. “He told me it was for members only. I said, ‘Sir, I’m a member of Congress’ and showed him my pin. And he said, ‘Whose pin did you steal?'”
Lee never shared when exactly this incident took place during her 25-year tenure in Congress, but right-wing proponents on the social platform X believe she completely fabricated the story and invoked the name of Jussie Smollett to attempt to make a point.
“I’m gonna go with this never actually happened. How very Jussie Smollett of you,” one X user wrote.
“Representative Barbara Lee has been awarded the 2024 Jussie Smollett Award. Congratulations, Barbara,” another person commented.
Some online came to Lee’s defense, calling out right-wingers’ hypocrisy as well as the deadly ramifications of racism.
“Jussie Smollett is trending again. Which means tons of MAGA (&a few 🌊 people) are using that☝🏽incident to delight themselves in a cesspool of racism denialism,” another person wrote. “Friendly reminder: Non-Black people falsely accused African Americans of crimes for centuries.”
Smollett, an American actor and singer, was convicted in 2021 on five counts of disorderly conduct connected to a racist, homophobic assault in Chicago that prosecutors later said he orchestrated. Just last month, an Illinois appeals court upheld his convictions after he tried to get them tossed out.
The clip of Lee’s CNN interview that’s drawn so much attention, and reignited references to Smollett’s reputation, ends with the congresswoman noting the stark differences between personal racist experiences and institutional racism while taking aim at Haley for her remarks.
“This is an example of what personal racism is and how people of color constantly have to deal with this each and every day,” Lee said of her experience. “But systemic racism is in the policies of this country,” she added, noting that Haley has adopted a “dangerous position” with her stance on racism. “She’s clueless.”
