When she suggested that Afghan women could learn from pop culture icons like Beyonce and Lizzo, US envoy Karen Decker tweeted that several of her posts earlier this week went “awry” despite her “best intentions.”
Her remarks sparked online outrage from users who thought they were tone deaf about the plight of Afghan women, whose rights have been severely curtailed since the ultra-conservative Taliban regained power in 2021.
Since then, the hardline Islamist rulers have ordered women to cover up in public and banned them from working for the majority of aid groups, going to school or university, parks, gyms, and public baths. This effectively keeps them out of public life.
The impoverished nation is also dealing with one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Aid organizations report that nearly four million children are malnourished and that more than half of the 38 million people there are at risk of starvation this winter.
Decker wrote in a post, “Sometimes our best intentions go awry because we haven’t listened enough or don’t really understand the lived experience of others.”
That category includes my efforts to honor courageous African Americans this month. I sincerely apologize to everyone I may have offended or hurt.
Following a rare rebuke from the State Department, which spokesman Ned Price stated on Wednesday that Decker’s messaging was “rather inappropriate and ineffective,” Decker issued an apology.
Decker, who has been in Afghanistan multiple times since 2006, invoked Black History Month themes regarding Afghanistan and Afghan women in a series of tweets over several days.
“Are Afghans aware of the movement that was started by #BlackGirlMagic? Do Afghan girls require the same movement? Women in Afghanistan? On Wednesday, Decker tweeted in a now-deleted post.
“I’m ready to learn, teach me.”
Decker included hashtags for Beyonce, Lizzo, and actress Regina King at the bottom of her tweet. She also mentioned the Super Bowl, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Abraham Lincoln in other tweets.
#BlackGirlMagic is a social media movement that features millions of positive and affirming posts about Black women.
“Decker seemed to be unaware of the country’s real need, which is food, when he inquired if it required a “movement.” Is she aware that the famine is coming? Lee Slusher, a specialist in international security, tweeted.
What on earth is this? Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president of the United States, tweeted, “It would appear that the Biden Administration is already too embarrassed by their failure in Afghanistan.”
Fawzia Koofi, a former Afghan woman legislator who fled to Britain following the Taliban takeover, posted the following tweet: Although few girls in Afghanistan are aware of #BlackGirlMagic, they have unquestionably made it difficult for the Taliban to sleep at night and during the day.