Written by Marsha Blackburn
U.S. Senator
Washington, D.C. – Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s inability to answer a simple question – what is a “woman?” – during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing made its way from beltway broadcasts to kitchen table chatter in a matter of hours.
While the initial buzz centered on one definition, the resulting national conversation exposed a brewing culture war that radical activists hope will allow them to silence dissent and divide Americans.
Judge Jackson’s flippant response – “I’m not a biologist” – was a signal to those activists that she’s ready to play ball with their agenda. Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, the media went into overdrive defending her. One USA Today columnist went so far as to claim that there was “no simple answer” to my question.
While Judge Jackson’s answer brought the debate over gender politics to the forefront, the left’s culture war is about more than one definition. It’s about division. Slowly, but surely, activists are forcing themselves into every aspect of our lives, stripping words and institutions of their meaning and using their power to eliminate dissent.
Families are a prime target. In schools, curriculum influenced by Critical Race Theory (CRT) teaches students that they are either “oppressors” or “victims.” On sports teams, athletes are told fairness doesn’t matter when biological females are forced to compete against biological males. In the home, woke bureaucrats interfere with relationships between parents and their kids via school policies that undermine parental rights.
Tennesseans are fed up with this relentless assault on common sense. Last week, I hosted a telephone town hall with more than 30,000 people across middle and east Tennessee, and they almost unanimously rejected the agenda pushed by Washington radicals. On Capitol Hill, I am fighting the demands of these dangerous activists. I will continue to push back on bills that enable their delusions and vote against nominees whose first instinct is to help the left divide and conquer the American people.
Washington elites and mainstream news outlets have tried to win the culture war by calling into question the ties that bind us together, but the people aren’t buying it. Instead, Tennessee families are demanding their public officials—elected and unelected—fulfill their duty to protect our rights – not take up arms in the culture war.
