What’s Wrong with Congresswoman Nancy Mace?

Photo by Matt Artz on Unsplash

Like a lot of Black women my age—and probably many others—I haven't watched the news since election night. In fact, I've barely watched TV except for when my wife watches Lost. She had never seen the series when it aired, so now she's watching it on Hulu. While she's out of town, I finally turned on the television myself and ended up watching Happy Days—a little nostalgia from my childhood.

I do read the news, I listen to NPR when I'm in the car, and I scroll through TikTok and Instagram, so I'm not unaware of what's happening. But a few days ago, instead of the focus being on honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance, the spotlight was on Congresswoman Nancy Mace and her crusade over bathrooms.

And here we go again.

One of the reasons Black women my age are so tired is that we've seen these cycles of bigotry repeat themselves over and over and over again. Yesterday, I told a Christian clergy friend that my mind kept going back to the night President Obama won his first election. The cameras focused on Reverend Jesse Jackson, tears streaming down his face, and I thought, "He's crying tears of joy and relief." He probably thought he'd never live to see a Black man become President of the United States. Jesse Jackson also ran for President of the United States, and I imagine that moment was deeply personal.

But now, I can't help but think about how many times Reverend Jackson must have seen this country fail—time and time again. Taking a step forward only to stumble back. Tiny steps forward, huge steps back. Reverend Jackson is a man who also stood on the balcony and witnessed the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and likely never thought but did hope our country would go that far.

I don't know Reverend Jackson personally, but I see how another generation is now carrying that same exhaustion he's lived with for decades. I'm tired, too. I'm tired of seeing the same forms of bigotry play out over and over again.

Many people on TikTok have drawn comparisons between Nancy Mace's efforts to gatekeep women's bathrooms with signs like "Biological Women Only" and the history of segregated bathrooms in America. That connection is valid and important. But I want to point out something else: Nancy Mace is doing what white women in our society have always done when they find themselves with very little power in a white male-dominated system.

Congresswoman Mace is using the only tool available to her in this MAGA-dominated GOP. Historically, white women have used their power to uphold systems of oppression, often at the expense of Black men, Black women, and other marginalized groups. Now, she's doing the same to trans women.

When white women don't have power in white male-dominated spaces, they often redirect their frustrations onto others, propping up systemic hierarchies. We see this in her gatekeeping of the women's bathroom—a tactic rooted in exclusion.

She's also weaponizing victimhood. For centuries, white women have played up their fragility or innocence to harm others. This behavior, often referred to as "white woman tears," feeds into societal biases that dehumanize and criminalize marginalized people.

One thing I want us all to remember is this: human beings have to relieve themselves. Using a restroom is an essential, universal human function. Access to a restroom is about human dignity—being treated as a human being.

In a piece I wrote in July 2023, titled Breaking the Carousel of Fear and Misunderstanding, I reflected on this:

Every individual, regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation, deserves respect, dignity, and the right to live freely—the Jewish value of Kavod HaBriyot, human dignity, or the dignity of creation, stresses this. The Talmud says, 'Great is human dignity as it overrides a prohibition in the Torah' (Berakhot 19b:9-11). Kavod HaBriyot is a fundamental principle in Jewish ethics. It underscores the inherent worth and respect due to every human being simply because they are part of God's creation.

One of the ways our society continues to harm marginalized folks is by controlling their access to restrooms. This isn't new. It came up during President Clinton's campaign when there was a wave of fear-mongering about gay men showering with other men. These cycles repeat, again and again, and they are exhausting.

It's frustrating to see this play out over and over again. But we can name it, call it out, and push back. We have to.

From Tiktok: What’s Wrong with Nancy Mace?

@rabbisandraWhat is wrong with Nancy Mace? Listen to learn what the Judaism says about human dignity. #judaism #transgender #rabbisandra

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