Democratic nominee for Georgia governor Keisha Lance Bottoms told an audience at the Radiant Conversations women’s event that Black women are conditioned into what she called a “post-traumatic slave mentality.”
“As black women, we are conditioned. Girl, you can’t depend on anybody else. If you don’t do it for yourself, ain’t nobody else gonna do it for you,” Bottoms said.
“And in many ways, that is a post-traumatic slave mentality. That it is – it is not just on our backs. That this is a burden that we can all carry. It’s a win for all of us. And so it is just remembering that this is a sisterhood, that this is about community. It’s not about going fast.”
She added that the goal is “taking others with you,” saying she is “grateful to have learned those lessons and to be able to apply them in this season.”
Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta and a former senior advisor to President Joe Biden, is running to become Georgia’s next governor. She has framed her campaign in part around a comparison between Biden’s record and that of President Donald Trump.
“I will put Biden up against Trump’s record any day of the week, especially in the way he delivered for Georgia,” Bottoms said during an appearance on CNN’s OutFront.
She pointed to cost-of-living concerns among Georgia voters. “The people of Georgia are talking about the cost of living. They’re talking about grocery costs. They’re talking about healthcare costs, 500,000 people in this state opted not to get healthcare after the big, ugly bill. Those are the things that people care about,” she said.
Bottoms has been outspoken against Trump since launching her campaign, describing him as a “disaster for our economy and our country — from his failure to address rising prices to giving an unelected billionaire the power to cut Medicare and Social Security.”
“Donald Trump is no laughing matter,” she said at the time. “Well, My grandmama taught me, no matter how hard they swing you never stay down. You fight back. That’s why I’m running for governor, because Georgia families deserve far better than what Donald Trump and Republicans are giving us.”
