When Hillary Clinton arrived by private jet in Ferguson, Mo., to talk race relations, the local black community did not welcome her with open arms.
Arriving on Tuesday almost a year after Michael Brown’s shooting, Robert Nettles, Brown’s friend, told the Daily Mail that Clinton’s brief visit was “just a little late.”
“Where you been, Hillary?” Nettles asked Clinton Tuesday. “It’s been ten months, girl!”
Clinton gave a speech at a black church just down the road from where the Ferguson riots took place. She discussed race relations, highlighting last week’s shooting in a church in Charleston, South Carolina. She called the recent shooting “an act of racist terror.”
“I know it’s tempting to dismiss a tragedy like this as an isolated incident, to believe that in today’s America bigotry is largely behind us, that institutionalized racism no longer exists,” Clinton told the mostly black audience. “But despite our best efforts and our highest hopes, America’s long struggle with race is far from finished.”
Addressing South Carolina’s move toward removing the Confederate flag from grounds of the state Capitol, the Democratic presidential candidate made it clear where she stood.
“It shouldn’t fly there,” Clinton said. “It shouldn’t fly anywhere.”
Her current opposition to the Confederate flag marks a break from her past. When husband Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas, his campaign sold Confederate memorabilia. And as first couple of Arkansas, the two attended Confederate Flag Day commemorations for eight years.
Ferguson’s black residents sense that Hillary’s visit is little more than a PR stunt. Christopher, who requested that the Daily Mail not print his last name, said, “It just ain’t enough for someone to drop into the community when it’s time to collect money and votes.”
LaKeisha Jones made a similar point. “That goes for all of them. If you ain’t been with us when it matters, don’t think we gonna be with you when it’s important to you.”
Nettles believed Clinton could connect with the black community — if she repeatedly came back to Ferguson and skipped the TV appearances and photo ops.
“I really think she’ll have to really reach out to the community,” he said. “For real, I mean. Not one of these TV speeches where she pretends to be one of us.”
But pretending to be part of the Ferguson community was all Clinton had time for. After that speech, she headed to a $2,700-per-person fundraising event in St. Louis.
Emily Leayman is an intern at the Washington Examiner
