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In since-deleted xenophobic tweet, author Barbara Ehrenreich attacks Marie Kondo
Sarah Day Owen WiskirchenUSA TODAY
Author Barbara Ehrenreich is known for books such as USA TODAY best-sellers "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America," "Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream," and most recently, "Natural Causes," released in 2018.
But in a since-deleted xenophobic tweet, Ehrenreich made a comment about fellow author Marie Kondo that quickly went viral.
Kondo is the author of "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" and "Spark Joy," both international bestselling books. Kondo, who is Japanese, is also the star of a new Netflix show, "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo," in which she used a translator to communicate with English-speaking clients.
'Tidying Up with Marie Kondo':How do you neatly fold and store gender biases?
"I will be convinced that America is not in decline only when our de-cluttering guru Marie Kondo learns to speak English." Ehrenreich tweeted at 11:05 a.m. Monday.
Twitter users were quick to point out the problematic post. One wrote:
"I assume Barbara Ehrenreich will delete this racist/xenophobic tweet but let’s not forget that even otherwise “progressive” white folks have a huge capacity for racism."
In her bio, Ehrenreich defines her career as including essays and opinions "mostly on themes related to social injustice and inequality" and activism for issues including "peace, women’s rights, and economic justice."
Ehrenreich's tweet drew comparisons to the milkshake duck meme, which describes something with broad appeal and popularity, accepted as good or delightful, then problematic.
Used in this context, by another author: "And lo, the great and mighty milkshake duck raised its massive, dripping head from the fell swamp and claimed in its beaked maw the once bright Barbara Ehrenreich."
Ehrenreich later walked back her deleted tweet in a subsequent tweet, saying "it's OK with me" that Kondo doesn't speak English to an American audience:
"I confess: I hate Marie Kondo because, aesthetically speaking, I’m on the side of clutter. As for her language: It’s OK with me that she doesn’t speak English to her huge American audience but it does suggest that America is in decline as a superpower."
Her non-apology tweet was not well received.
