AOC Draws Heat For Claiming Statue of Catholic Saint Damien is Part of ‘White Supremacist Culture’: ‘A Savage Level of Ignorance’
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) drew criticism on Friday after she claimed a Hawaii statue of Catholic Saint Father Damien of Molokai represents “white supremacist culture.”
“Even when we select figures to tell the stories of colonized places, it is the colonizers and settlers whose stories are told – and virtually no one else,” wrote Ocasio-Cortez in an Instagram story. “Check out Hawaii’s statue. It’s not Queen Lili’uokalani of Hawaii, the only Queen Regnant of Hawaii, who is immortalized and whose story is told. It is Father Damien.”
“This isn’t to litigate each and every individual statue, but to point out the patterns that have emerged among the totality of them in who we are taught to deify in our nation’s Capitol: virtually all men, all white, and mostly both,” she protested, adding, “This is what patriarchy and white supremacist culture looks like!”
“It’s not radical or crazy to understand the influence white supremacist culture has historically had in our overall culture & how it impacts the present day,” the congresswoman concluded.
. @AOC calls the statue in the US capitol building of Father Damien, a canonized saint in the Catholic Church, a part of “white supremacist culture.”
Father Damien died of leprosy after spending his life serving others who had the disease. pic.twitter.com/NVnfCN7EVK
— John Gage (@johnrobertgage) July 31, 2020
Ocasio-Cortez’s comment quickly drew heat from conservatives on social media, with some noting the irony of someone recently branded “the future of the Catholic Church” calling out a statue of a Catholic saint who died helping lepers in Hawaii.
Future of the Catholic Church, eh? https://t.co/s7uU9BQGtN
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) July 31, 2020
This is a savage level of ignorance, shamelessly displayed. https://t.co/B57mVaypwx
— Matthew Hennessey (@MattHennessey) July 31, 2020
Woke is an intensification of Anglo Puritanism. Of course it’s anti-Catholic. https://t.co/C6E4WLVrK6
— Adrian Vermeule (@Vermeullarmine) July 31, 2020
St. Damien is a martyr of charity who gave his life caring for lepers. @AOC is a counselor of fraud.
Praying for his intercession rather than trying to tear him down would serve her better in the long run. https://t.co/K99Q7nTGu1
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) July 31, 2020
The evil St. Damien who spent 16 years caring for those in the leper colony of Kalaupapa, then caught leprosy himself, kept serving the sick & the poor of Hawaii, & succumbed to the disease. St. Damien is literally the patron saint of lepers & there should be more statues of him. https://t.co/yC0rGIx0U7
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) July 31, 2020
moves the congresswoman from basically annoying into genuinely loathsome territory.
yeah down with those *checks note* Catholic saints and their white supremacist, patriarchal *checks notes again* care for lepers. https://t.co/t7NzhmK7XK
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) July 31, 2020
.@AOC calling a Catholic priest part of “white supremacist culture” — a man who literally rotted to death from leprosy because he was serving other lepers.
She owes the Catholic Church an apology.https://t.co/l2Bo0xMP1Y
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) July 31, 2020
Interesting that @AOC is unaware that King David Kalākaua bestowed on Damien the honor of “Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalākaua” and that it was then Crown Princess Liliʻuokalani who presented it. https://t.co/kTL7sreYU7
— Alberto Miguel Fernandez (@AlbertoMiguelF5) July 31, 2020
Most politicians would apologize for the St. Damien tweet. I don’t know if AOC has that in her. She may be too much like Trump.
— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) July 31, 2020
“A little research into the saint @AOC is trying to dunk on would yield his incredible devotion to those suffering from leprosy, which led to his canonization,” tweeted Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). “We must not cave to cancel culture.”
A little research into the saint @AOC is trying to dunk on would yield his incredible devotion to those suffering from leprosy, which led to his canonization.
We must not cave to cancel culture. https://t.co/GUY7CKfsKg
— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) July 31, 2020
