Eva Longoria faces backlash for 'racist' comments about Black women and the election

Eva Longoria is facing backlash for her comments on who we should thank for Biden’s victory in the election.

In an interview with MSNBC, the actor credited Latina women as the “real heroines”.

“Women of colour showed up in big ways,” she said. “Of course, you saw in Georgia what Black women have done but Latina women are the real heroines here.”

She continued:

[Latina women] beat men in turnout in every state and voted for Biden and Harris at an average rate close to three to one. And that wasn’t surprising to us because Latinas are the CEOs of the households. They make all the financial decisions and healthcare decisions and educational decisions. Many Latinas are small business owners and they wanted a plan for recovery for themselves, not for Wall Street.

People are accusing Longoria of downplaying the contributions Black women have made to the election and Biden’s win.

One shining example is Stacey Abrams, who since 2018, worked tirelessly to register 800,000 new voters in Georgia, a traditionally red state that flipped and help Biden secure the election.

For many, Longoria’s declaration proves that referring to Black women under the umbrella term of “women of colour” diminishes and overlooks their achievements.

Others pointed out that many Latinx people did, in fact, vote for Trump.

As many celebrities do when they're held accountable, Longoria took part in the tradition of the notes app apology, and clarified that she meant Latina women “voted more progressively than Latino men”.

“Black women have long been the backbone of the Democratic party, something we have seen played out in this election as well as previous ones,” she said. “Finally, Black women don’t have to do it alone any longer. Latinas (many who identify as Afro-Latina), indigenous women, AAPI women and other women of colour are standing with them so we can grow our collective voice and power.”

Still, Longoria’s initial comments illustrate the frustrations of many Black women when their hard work is dismissed.

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