Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez turned heads on the pink carpet throughout this yr’s Met Gala in a floor-length white robe with the phrases “Tax the Wealthy” emblazoned in pink throughout the again. The political trend assertion drew admiration from the left and criticism from right-wing figures, very similar to singer Pleasure Villa’s “Construct the Wall” gown on the 2019 Grammy Awards did in reverse.
Interviewed by a reporter throughout the occasion on Monday night time, Ocasio-Cortez addressed her controversial selection of couture, saying, “Oftentimes, this dialog is going on [only] with working and middle-class individuals. I believe it’s time we deliver all courses into the dialog of getting a fairer nation.”
Outdoors, police corralled quite a few Black Lives Matter protesters additionally calling for financial justice, albeit otherwise. One protester, recognized solely as Ella in a subsequent Instagram submit, marched up and down the road in a pink gown and white boots, sharing their very own message by means of a microphone as scores of supporters seemed on:
We can’t return to regular. The place was your rage final yr? Thirty-five thousand {dollars} for a f**king ticket to indicate your f**king garments, whereas our individuals are nonetheless dying! Our individuals are nonetheless dying! Our individuals are nonetheless being murdered! And there are thousands and thousands of {dollars} going to this museum. We demand free housing! We demand all political prisoners to be freed! We demand justice for our individuals!
Ella, together with a number of different protesters, was arrested that day after roughly two dozen officers rushed towards the group, wrestling individuals to the bottom and hauling them away in zip-tie handcuffs, in line with footage and pictures from the demonstration. The pomp and status of the wealthy and well-known modeling excessive trend inside an ultra-exclusive occasion themed “American Independence” contrasts sharply with chaotic scenes of violence on black and brown our bodies a number of toes away. The Starvation Video games metaphor writes itself, however there’s one other comparability to be made. What makes AOC’s political demonstration so palatable, and the protests of the nameless plenty so apprehensible?
It’s now commonplace for the media to periodically churn out photographs and reviews of BLM protesters being assaulted by the cops, whilst they name for justice in circumstances of police brutality or demand the redistribution of funds from bloated police budgets. Most of the people and the elites have develop into seemingly desensitized and apathetic in direction of the shortage of follow-through on these calls for, but they’ve developed a penchant for incorporating activism into tradition and leisure. The brand new “politics of the private” is so now, so occurring, however solely acceptable throughout award reveals and performances, the place they’ll increase viewership, morale, and the notion that issues are altering.
In the meantime, the truth is that little or no has modified in terms of precise public coverage. Following George Floyd’s tragic homicide, months of racial justice protests led to sporadic, typically superficial help from the wealthy and well-known, whereas politicians made empty promises of reforming the police system. A “Hip Hop Month” was signed into regulation just lately, whereas the reigning Democrats have quietly shelved the George Floyd bill for radical amendments to policing.
Certainly, assessing what turned of the police reform tasks drafted after final yr’s uprisings will present that the tasks had been deliberately insufficient at finest, and fully fraudulent at worst. Slightly than defunding the police and channeling that cash into underprivileged communities, New York mayor Invoice de Blasio’s govt proposal for fiscal yr 2022 raised the police’s price range to $5.13 billion—$230 million greater than earlier than. The mayor was among the many attendees on the 2021 Met Gala.
Alas, with 2020 being a distant bitter reminiscence, People are determined to return to a standard world of extravagant events, articulate politicians, and violently racist policing. Maybe too exhausted and perplexed by the complicated protests and points that marked yesteryear, the liberals now swoon for daring slogans on stunning garments.
Whereas AOC’s spectacular and weird rise to energy has impressed many among the many working class, how she employs her present energy and recognition is legitimate for scrutiny. Is it significant to put on a gown saying “Tax the wealthy” whereas schmoozing with the wealthy? Or is it performative? And in an age the place a significant community is filming a actuality collection referred to as The Activist, with celebrities resembling Usher, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Julianne Hough as judges, does the reply rely upon who you ask?
Journalist Tanzina Vega tweeted on Tuesday, “Love the gown or hate the gown—however you’re speaking in regards to the gown. So who gained?”
The query is just not solely who wins, however what’s being gained? If the target was to win the eye of the media and the viewers, then congratulations are so as. If it was to shift, like AOC talked about, the dialog of taxing the wealthy to the wealthy themselves, then maybe that was additionally completed. But there are finer, and extra essential, fascinating outcomes which can be troublesome and essential to measure. The wealthy could also be amused and intrigued by such a gown, however do they really wish to be taxed extra? Are they the kind of wealthy individuals prepared to place a dent of their wealth for the larger good of society? With the additional assumption, in fact, that the federal government will certainly funnel these taxes into the causes that protesters are screaming for outdoor? On one other notice, are the common residents scrolling previous AOC’s gown on their telephones bothering to analysis the financial implications of the snappy little slogan, and wouldn’t it make them extra civically engaged?
Critique is just not irrelevant due to the frivolous concept that it retains the highlight on AOC nonetheless. Neither is it in the identical class because the vitriol of sure Republicans who’re threatened by one of the vital progressive congresswomen. Slightly, it is a crucial method to examine and distinction which political messaging is “protected” inside society and which isn’t, who is widely known and who’s arrested, and which themes are thrust into the highlight and that are forged apart.
