Melissa Harris-Perry Scolds Guest to Be ‘Super Careful’ About Saying ‘Hard Worker’ Because of Slavery

MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry derailed a conversation about potential Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) Saturday to admonish a guest for calling him a “hard worker,” arguing it demeaned slaves and working mothers “in the context of relative privilege.”

The exchange, noted by Weasel Zippers, occurred when conservative Latino activist Alfonso Aguilar sang Ryan’s praises during a panel discussion about his likely ascendance to replace John Boehner (R., Ohio).

“If there’s somebody who is a hard worker when he goes to Washington, it’s Paul Ryan,” he said. “Not only works with the Republicans but Democrats. You know very well that I work on [the] immigration issue, trying to get Republicans to support immigration reform . . . This is somebody who’s trying to govern.”

Harris-Perry cut in to tell Aguilar that the use of the term “hard worker” was problematic since she had a picture of slaves working in cotton fields on her office wall to remind her of when to really use that term. Her rambling response also included an attack on Republicans for demonizing working mothers.

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