--- title: Bill Clinton's Blunder Reveals the Fight for Party's Soul description: His response to protesters shows he's two-faced on America's race problems canonical: https://time.com/4288491/bill-clintons-blunder/ author: Eddie S. Glaude Jr. article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-12T13:35:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:38:20.134Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Bill Clinton's Blunder Reveals the Fight for the Democratic Party's Soul og:description: His response to protesters shows he's two-faced on America's race problems og:url: https://time.com/4288491/bill-clintons-blunder/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b31fa88a65fdb8/69888e810b72e3d6e56e8e58/bill-clinton1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bill Clinton, former U.S. President and husband of former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, speaks to the crowd, during a town hall event at the Columbia Museum of Art Boyd Plaza in Columbia, S.C., on Feb og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill Clinton's Blunder Reveals the Fight for the Democratic Party's Soul twitter:description: His response to protesters shows he's two-faced on America's race problems twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0b31fa88a65fdb8/69888e810b72e3d6e56e8e58/bill-clinton1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bill Clinton's Blunder Reveals the Fight for the Democratic Party's Soul ## Video: Bill Clinton Clashes with Black Lives Matter Protesters [Watch (HLS stream): Bill Clinton Clashes with Black Lives Matter Protesters](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jxna8JrH.m3u8) (1:18)  _Published 2016-04-08. President Bill Clinton engaged repeatedly with Black Lives Matter protesters who interrupted a rally in Philadelphia on Thursday in a series of tense confrontations, defending his own and his wife Hillary’s positions in the 1990s._  by [Eddie S. Glaude Jr.](https://time.com/author/eddie-s-glaude-jr/)  ## Eddie S. Glaude Jr. Apr 12, 2016 1:35 PM UTC  Bill Clinton, former U.S. President and husband of former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, speaks to the crowd, during a town hall event at the Columbia Museum of Art Boyd Plaza in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 26, 2017. Bill Clinton, former U.S. President and husband of former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, speaks to the crowd, during a town hall event at the Columbia Museum of Art Boyd Plaza in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 26, 2017.Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Eddie S. Glaude Jr.](https://time.com/author/eddie-s-glaude-jr/)  ## Eddie S. Glaude Jr. Apr 12, 2016 1:35 PM UTC In Roman mythology, [Janus](http://www.britannica.com/topic/Janus-Roman-god) was the god of beginnings and endings. He is one of the oldest of the Roman deities. It is said that Romulus himself introduced his worship. Janus came to represent the past and future, and his image was that of a single head with double face, looking backwards and forwards. This two-faced figure is what remains today, and it all too often refers to the person who is duplicitous—someone with contrasting sides. Bill Clinton is a Janus-faced politician. Last week in response to protests during a rally in Philadelphia, Clinton vehemently [defended](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/us/prison-rate-was-rising-years-before-1994-law.html?%5Fr=0) the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996\. Insisting that the protesters listen to the “[truth](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/rorschachs-crime-bill/477426/),” he [claimed](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/opinion/campaign-stops/unlocking-the-truth-about-the-clinton-crime-bill.html) that the crime bill led to a 25-year low in crime and a 33-year low in the murder rate. He [argued](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/04/08/3767776/bill-clinton-welfare-reform/) that welfare reform resulted in the largest drop in African-American poverty in history. And in one startling moment, red-faced and finger wagging,” he [shouted](http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/07/politics/bill-clinton-black-lives-matter-protesters/index.html): --- > “” --- Here, distilled for all to see, Clinton revealed one of his contrasting sides. Not the smooth, white Southern politician who moves among African Americans with ease and grace, but the smug and paternal Southern white boy who simply wants you to hush and swallow his lies whole. We know, and so does Bill Clinton, that the 1994 crime bill was [not the reason](http://www.politifact.com/pennsylvania/statements/2016/apr/08/bill-clinton/fact-checking-bill-clintons-philly-defense-his-con/) for the reduction in crime during this period. In her book, [_The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America_](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0199892806/?tag=timecom-20), Naomi Murakawa has powerfully demonstrated the impact of Clinton’s emphasis on “punishment, police, and protection,” and its role in expanding the carceral state. We know, and so does Bill Clinton, that welfare reform actually expanded the misery of the poorest of the poor. People living in extreme poverty [increased more than twofold](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/27/bernie-sanders-is-right-bill-clintons-welfare-law-doubled-extreme-poverty/) as a result of that legislation. The next day, Clinton [kind of apologized](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/us/politics/bill-clinton-apology-black-lives-matter-philadelphia.html). He said that aspects of the 1994 crime bill “[cannot be justified](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bill-clinton-addresses-clash-blm-protesters).” He said he [regretted](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/04/08/bill%5Fclinton%5Finteresting%5Fto%5Fblame%5Fme%5Ffor%5Fmass%5Fincarceration%5Fhillary%5Fwas%5Ffirst%5Fto%5Fsay%5Fwe%5Fneed%5Fto%5Flet%5Fem%5Fout.html) the way he engaged the protesters. “I was talking past her the way she was talking past me. We’ve got to stop that in this country. We’ve got to listen to each other again,” he said. But this passionate plea was immediately saddled with [what we heard the day before](http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/04/08/473508384/roundup-reactions-to-bill-clintons-exchange-with-black-lives-matter-protesters). --- > “” --- Sadly, this is the same rhetoric of the 1990s. This is talk of “[super-predators](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/26/why-hillary-clintons-super-predator-apology-is-such-a-big-moment-for-political-protest/).” Bill Clinton isn’t as skilled these days at concealing his two faces. We are seeing them now in plain view. Or, perhaps, some are finally willing to acknowledge what has always been the case. At any rate, something dramatic happened in Philadelphia. The mask cracked. Wearing the mask is a critical feature of America’s political theater. We’ve donned the mask since the beginning of this country. From dressing up as Native Americans during the Boston Tea Party to the spectacle of 19th-century [minstrel shows](http://black-face.com/minstrel-shows.htm) (that quintessential form of American popular entertainment with white faces corked in black and then, of all things, black faces corked in black), Americans have managed their anxieties and contradictions behind fanciful and ornate illusions that we were otherwise. Our hidden faces have kept and continue to keep race matters as they are—even, perhaps especially, with a black man in the White House. ### Decoding Hillary Clinton's Campaign Photo Ops  Des Moines, IA - April 15: Hillary Clinton began her 2016 campaign by driving from her house in Chappaqua, N.Y., to Iowa in a van instead of flying, as she did in 2008. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Marshalltown, IA - April 15: Clinton had coffee and spoke with customers during her first Iowa visit. Many of her advisors think she performs best in small groups with voters, so her campaign began with a carefully planned “listening tour." Michael B. Thomas—AFP/Getty Images  Monticello, IA - April 14: At a community college in Iowa, Clinton said exactly what the left wanted her to say. "There's something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers that I saw on I-80 as I was driving here," Clinton said. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton’s first good baby photo-op came early in New Hampshire in the town of Keene. Her campaign has made multiple references to her new status as a grandmother. Lucas Jackson—Reuters  Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton visited a family-owned children’s furniture factory to talk small business and manufacturing. Planks of wood, stacked boxes and heavy machinery formed an ideal backdrop. Don Emmert—AFP/Getty Images  Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton chose a casual setting to brush off questions over the Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of donations during her time as secretary of state. She called allegations that she intervened on behalf of donors “distractions.” Don Emmert—AFP/Getty Images  Concord, N.H. - April 21: Clinton got a chance to talk student debt with young women at a community college in Concord, New Hampshire. “You cannot expect people to have that much debt and then be expected to pay it off,” she said. Andrew Burton—Getty Images  Concord, N.H. - April 21: Clinton paid her dues with a required visit for Democratic hopefuls in New Hampshire: a gathering at the home of 94-year-old former state Sen. Mary Louise Hancock, the so-called grand dame of New Hampshire politics. Jim Cole—AP  Las Vegas, NV - May 5: Clinton discussed immigration with a roundtable in Las Vegas, Nevada, a primary state with a heavy population of Hispanic immigrants, calling for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Mike Blake—Reuters Clinton, our so-called [first black president](http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/clinton-honored-first-black-president-black-caucus-dinner), reveals the lie. His Janus-faced approached to black communities, an approach that has defined the Democratic Party for generations now, has only deepened our racial neurosis, and he and it are finally being held to account. The devastating effects of the crime bill, welfare reform, deregulation, NAFTA, strategies of triangulation (crime was, after all, a “[realignment issue](https://books.google.com/books?id=b6%5FDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=%E2%80%9Crealignment+issue%E2%80%9D+crime+clinton&source=bl&ots=wcZaBBUeGd&sig=rKPt7yq19TxvlRuQc%5FigU6dpol4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiK%5FInF6YbMAhWIOz4KHabFA%5FAQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Crealignment%20issue%E2%80%9D%20crime%20clinton&f=false)”), and the racial dog whistles around personal responsibility can’t be ignored by those who have borne the brunt of these policies and this rhetoric. The Great Recession of 2008 wiped away most of the economic gains of the 1990s for African Americans. Perhaps, it dispelled our illusions, too. Many of the protesters don’t want to wear the mask anymore. They don’t want to do the racial jig that it requires. Instead, they want a politics that addresses directly and honestly the crisis in their communities. So the protests and interruptions weren’t just about “[good television](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/us/politics/bill-clinton-apology-black-lives-matter-philadelphia.html),” as Bill Clinton suggested. They cut much deeper. They reveal a fight, in part, over the soul of the Democratic Party—_if_ the Party still has one. Remember: Janus was the god of beginnings and endings. 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