"If Kshama Were a Man She’d Be Treated Differently': Democratic Women Defend Sawant - The Stranger
Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant gives speech on the step inside City Hall as people stand behind her holding signs that read “We need rent control” and “build city owned housing.” (Photo Courtesy of the City of Seattle)
Councilmember Kshama Sawant has called the recall campaign many things: racist, right-wing, an act of voter suppression. Women who stand against the recall, whether they support Sawant’s leftward politics or not, add an additional descriptor to the attempt to unseat the loudest woman of color on the council: sexist…
In February, the 43rd District Democrats, a local party organization that covers the district Sawant represents on council, opposed the recall and called it out as racist and misogynist.
The 43rd LD Dems communications chair, Kelsey Hamlin, said in an email, “Men have always been allowed ‘mistakes’ and even atrocities yet still remain respected members of the US and local political spheres.”
She pointed to mayor-elect Bruce Harrell, who was accused of hiding wage theft at a The Royal Esquire club, a private social club for Black men that he’s led…
“Apparently even that isn't enough to keep him from winning office,” Hamlin said. “But a brown woman gives access to a public City Hall, paid for with our tax dollars, for a peaceful sit-in one time, and that becomes one of the biggest tools in the Recall Sawant toolbox? Come on.”
…Shasti Conrad, who is the first woman of color to chair the King County Democrats, agreed that men in Seattle have seen less backlash for far greater sins, citing Mayor Ed Murray and his sex abuse allegations as an example.
The King County Democrats have never endorsed Sawant, and Conrad thinks Sawant should “maybe re-evaluate” some of her tactics, but the former D3 resident supports the council member in the recall because she believes the campaign is an effort to “undo democratically elected processes.”
“Recalls are often used on people that the folks think have vulnerabilities, and a lot of times that is unduly put towards women people of color,” Conrad said. “Women, and people of color, and women of color pay a price that isn't leveraged at others, especially white men.”
Even in her own position, Conrad noticed that members of the public and people within her organization are more likely to push back on her than on her vice chair, who is a white man.
The other women on the council also face a high level of scrutiny. To pick one example, in 2016, hundreds of men sent hateful emails to the women on the council after the majority rejected a street vacation for an NBA arena.
…Conrad called the Seattle Times editorial an act of “character assassination.” She described the editorial as a bunch of ''dog whistles'' that amount to “we don’t like this lady.”
“It’s all respectability politics, and that is not enough to turn over an election,” Conrad said. “You know how many men have yelled and been gross and horrible? And we've had to live with them.”
…As Nolan’s comment implies, the recall will inevitably be a judgement of Sawant’s polarizing leadership style as well as the charges. Because of this, Conrad fears that attacks on Sawant’s character may do the socialist council member in, especially after more conservative candidates dominated in the general election.
Hamlin expressed a similar concern. “If Sawant is recalled… it gets us into a really dark place in Seattle that says men with money in 2021 can still, and should, thwart democracy to advance their agenda and constantly monitor elected women of color under a microscope to do it,” she said.
