Let me give a different take. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is unwittingly insightful and undoubtedly correct. Shes says of Saint Damien de Veuster of Molokai:
“This is what patriarchy and white supremacist culture looks like! It’s not radical or crazy to understand the influence white supremacist culture has historically had in our overall culture & how it impacts the present day.”
This saint dedicated his life to bring God and human dignity to the desperate, impoverished outcasts of a faraway place and a very foreign language, so she obviously does not defame him. Instead, she attacks the critics of “patriarchy white supremacist culture,” which, history tells us, consists in men who give their lives to save both men and women of other races and cultures. It has brought both faith and reason to enrich the cultures of many parts of the world, to pacify cultures of violence, to quell sexual exploitation (think of Saint Charles Lwanga), to show people the Way, the Truth, and the Life of God Himself. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex here must celebrate “patriarchy and white supremacist culture,” the benign and lifesaving system of ideas that gives her the opportunities that she enjoys today.
A very thoughtful post.