Rebecca Cooke, the Democrat candidate running against former Navy SEAL chief Derrick Van Orden for Congress in the 3rd congressional district, apparently doesn’t have a very high opinion of Eau Claire.
That’s evident from a post on the Instagram page of Red’s Mercantile, the Eau Claire store that Cooke, who has a lengthy career as a leftwing political operative, founded and ran until it closed. It accuses the city of being “infiltrated” with “quiet racism.”
“Flash forward, I am back living in my predominantly white hometown. MAGA flags wave high in parts of this area, but it’s the quiet racism that has infiltrated, that’s always been there and has never been challenged or called out,” the post says (our bold.)
The post was accompanied by a photo of George Floyd, but it soon took a weird turn. Cooke has tried to reposition herself as a moderate, despite working as a liberal fundraiser, praising New York’s socialist mayor, and even working for the campaign of Minocqua Brewery loudmouth Kirk Bangstad. The post claimed racism in Eau Claire is “institutionalized.”
“@barookoo is who drew my attention to it, hosting conversations that are uncomfortable for people – challenging me. We like to hold places that are nostalgic on a pedestal, I’ve held EC on one for years, but what you are seeing in MSP is also institutionalized in this city, in a multitude of ways if you take the time to examine it,” continued the post on Cooke’s store’s Instagram page.
The post also discussed “white privilege,” saying, “Use your white privilege to be an ally. Hire minorities. Amplify movements with your platform. Buy from minority-owned businesses – often and monthly. Don’t just be lip service, put your $$ where you mouth is. My greatest fear is that nothing comes from this. What three things will you commit to being more inclusive ? To speaking up? To changing your buying habits? How will you volunteer and give of your time and energy? how will you educate yourself? Don’t lean on your POC friends to figure it out, it’s exhausting to them. Stories will disappear. Social media dust will settle. but it’s what you commit yourself to do long term that will have lasting change. Don’t let this change be fleeting.”
Van Orden’s campaign has criticized the post. “Time and again, Cooke has shown that she will sell out Wisconsinites to pander to Washington Democrats. Whether it’s supporting failed Biden-era policies that would gut our rural communities or even attacking her own neighbors by calling them ‘racist’, she’s made it clear that she hates the people she claims she wants to represent,” wrote Grace Kim, Van Orden’s spokesperson, in a press release.
The post also praised the Minneapolis BLM protests. Although some people protested peacefully, which is their right, others burned down a police station and businesses during that unrest.
“I used to live two blocks from Minnehaha station and took the train daily. I called phillips neighborhood home. Worked through college @ppltwincities – a pillar of the south mpls community. and I’ve just been thinking so much about those years, our community, people I love and where the kids from PPL youth dev programs are now – they are marching in the streets,” the post added.
The post then shared a series of activists and what she called “POC accounts.”
