Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller denounced identity politics and proclaimed that no one should have to apologize for the color of her skin on Monday in response to a media frenzy over a comment she made from her personal Facebook account. Miller was lambasted for what she says was a complaint about the “simple-minded identity politics that defines us based on nothing more than the color of our skin.”
Miller’s Facebook comment:
“I’m sick and tired of being hit for being white….It is all about making us feel like we need to apologize. I am WHITE-and proud of it! No apologies necessary.”
In an interview on the James T. Harris radio show, Miller, who has served as the lone watchdog member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, was asked if she was surprised by the firestorm her words created. “I am surprised, and I guess I shouldn’t be. I have taken on a very corrupt Democratic machine and exposed their abuse of the residents of the 5th poorest metropolitan area in the country. I need to realize that anything I say or do can and will be used against me.”
[Listen to the interview here]
“What I find astonishing is that so many of us assumed that a specific condemnation of the white supremacists was needed,” said Miller. “Of course, we all condemn white supremacists. When you think about it, that protest in Charlottesville was national, yet the white supremacists only managed to draw a few hundred people. Why is that? It is because we as a nation soundly reject bigots.”
“Someone said that I portrayed myself as a victim of anti-white racism,” responded Miller. “That might be their interpretation, but that is not what I was referring to. I was only referring to simple-minded identity politics that defines us based on nothing more than the color of our skin.”
Harris, who describes himself as an American of African descent, stated that the local blogger who had started the attack on Miller then attacked Harris himself for not referring to himself as Black. Harris then repeatedly said during the interview that he was “Black, and proud of it.” Harris asked why it was expected of him to make such a proclamation, but unacceptable for Miller.
“You know, I expressed my frustration with the identity politics at play today. The American people are rejecting those politics. I will not be ashamed for the color of my skin and I absolutely reject the notion that anyone should be,” stated Miller. “We should all be proud of what God created. In His honor we should all continue to reject the identity politics that is tearing our communities apart.”
Harris played a soundbite from notorious County Supervisor Richard Elias, who had demanded an apology from Miller for her Facebook comment. Elias, a frequent critic of Miller and her constituents, has said that he does not feel comfortable going into her district without a passport, for fear of Border Patrol detaining him. He has made similar comments on more than one occasion; but, only after being admonished by Geri Otoboni, a grandmother who resides in Miller’s district, for “scaring her Hispanic grandsons,” did Elias stop making his racist and bigoted comments.
“Richard is a hypocrite,” said Miller. “He is constantly implying the residents of District 1 discriminate against people like him. He has mentioned several times during a board meeting that he can’t go north of River Road without his passport. Those remarks have no place in the conversation at a Board of Supervisors meeting.”
“I have heard from countless constituents who are uncomfortable with identity politics. I represent a diverse group of people, many of whom live on far less than a Supervisor’s take-home pay,” continued Miller. “They struggle to pay their bills, and wish we leaders could focus on their fight rather than [on] giving tens of millions of dollars away to cronies.”
Miller was referring to a deal approved by Elias and a majority of the Board to fund a space balloon company. The County spent $15 million dollars on the building and launchpad for World View, a high-end near-space tourism company. The ADI was able to confirm that the company will not likely bring tourists to the area any time in the near future due to the fact that the facility has not received, and is not expected to receive, FAA approval to launch from the Pima County facility. The project had been sold by Elias as an economic development opportunity.
“Their corruption affects all people in Pima County,” said Miller. “It doesn’t discriminate, but it does benefit a very small groups of elites: their donors.”
Harris asked Miller if Elias and others had condemned the call for violence against her levied after she and fellow Supervisor Steve Christy voted against an ordinance aimed at Christians. The ordinance prohibited “Gay Conversion Therapy.” Because there are no known instances of the controversial therapy being practiced in Pima County, and because lawyers advised the Board that the ordinance was unconstitutional, Miller and Christy voted against it. Miller told Harris that no one other than Christy condemned the attacks on her.
Miller appeared to take the most recent attack in stride, but when Harris asked her who stood to gain from the attacks on her, she responded sadly, “The people of Pima County lose. They lose not only an opportunity to engage in a real and much-needed conversation about race, they lose an opportunity to call out the people who are oppressing them with some of the highest taxes in the state only to buy businesses for a privileged few. That is who loses.”