We Must Continue to Root Out Racism

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Evans for giving me an opportunity to speak and for hosting this Special Order hour.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend, behind a podium adorned by the Seal of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, once again, sank even further in disgrace through remarks that were attacking peaceful American private citizens.

It should not be lost on us that when referencing White supremacy and neo-Nazism, Donald Trump saw fit to speak with calculated language, unlike the phrases he used to describe the Black men and their mothers who used their platform to highlight longstanding injustices. His behavior continues to demonstrate that he is unfit to serve as the leader of this free world, and surely unfit to represent the American rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We have witnessed 9 months of discriminatory policies and proposals emanating from the Trump White House; bald-faced and bumbling attempts to reverse the progress made not only by President Obama, but progress won decades ago, fights that we thought we had already won, issues that had already been settled, from a woman's right to choose, to environmental protections, to civil rights, to workplace safety, and beyond.

In January, Donald Trump assumed the Presidency and made rescinding the freedoms of people of color, the poor, and the sick his first priority.

We look at the establishment of the fraudulent Voter Suppression Commission; the appointments of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Betsy DeVos, Sebastian Gorka, and Stephen Miller, a group of people whose ideology directly stands against the advancement of an equal and more perfect union; his support for discriminatory voter ID laws; reinstatement of the failed war on drugs; attacks on affirmative action at colleges and universities; rollback of consent decrees that keep police accountable; the now extended Muslim ban; the transgender ban in our armed services; the rollback of our civil rights enforcement across Federal agencies; reinstating the use of private prisons; refusing to protect Americans and the Nation from White supremacists; all under the slogan of ``Make America Great'' under the guise of patriotism.

Make no mistake about it, the world is imperfect, and a long view of history shows evil triumphing more often than we would like.

But here in America, in the space in which I work, I will continue to stand with my colleagues here in the Congressional Black Caucus and in the Chambers of Congress to root out racism, sexism, bigotry, and hatred because it cripples this Nation. I will continue to gather in solidarity with my brothers and sisters of color, the Muslim and the Jewish communities, the LGBTQ community, the immigrant community, and every person that is targeted by those who seek to divide us, as this President is doing.

I will take a knee, I will reclaim my time, I will raise my fist, I will stay awake, I will stay alert, and I am ready to mobilize.

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