Rejecting White Nationalism and White Supremacy
Floor Speech
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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, this resolution resolves that ``the House of Representatives once again rejects white nationalism and white supremacy as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States,'' and with that I agree.
As the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, I would like to use my time to consider with my colleagues how firmly America has stood, and continues to stand, against white supremacy. It is a basic human flaw that our eyes open to truth too slowly and close on wickedness too quickly. Today, we have the opportunity to renew our gaze at the truth about our fellow men and women, and that each of them is created with untold dignity and worth.
As a result, we recognize that white supremacy and white nationalism peddle lies about our brothers and sisters in dignity. We reject these lies, and we stand on the shoulders of Americans who have gone before us in rejecting white supremacy and racism.
As Martin Luther King, Jr., observed, ``When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men''--yes, Black men as well as White men--``would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'' Dr. King's words are historical fact rooted in universal truth.
America's Founders gave us an incredible inheritance in the Declaration of Independence, in which they said ``all men are created equal.'' This declaration helped the Founders and all Americans who have lived after them identify the many ways that we dishonor that equality, recognize and rectify it, and set a more just path forward.
In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson--himself a slave owner--publicly supported the abolition of the slave trade, imploring Congress to ``withdraw the citizens of the United States from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa.''
George Washington said, ``There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery.''
John Adams wrote that ``Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual tota extirpation of slavery from the United States . . . `' and ``I have, through my whole life, held the practice of slavery in . . . abhorrence.''
Benjamin Franklin believed ``Slavery is . . . an atrocious debasement of human nature.''
Alexander Hamilton cited racial prejudice as something that ``makes us fancy many things that are founded neither in reason nor experience.''
And James Madison wrote that ``We have seen the mere distinction of color made in the most enlightened period of time, a ground of the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man.''
The words of our Founders indict anyone who would believe that white supremacy or actions born out of that world view is in any way defensible.
It does all Americans good to revisit our path out of darkness that feeds racial injustice so that we never find ourselves slipping back, but rather move forward knowing that we are all created equal and all are created in God's image.
At the beginning of the American Revolution, slavery existed in all the 13 original States, and the slave trade with Africa was carried on unconstrained. Official actions to abolish slavery began in 1774, before independence was even declared, and this moral movement gained substantial ground over the next 35 years.
Delegates to the First Continental Congress in 1774 pledged to stop the importation of slaves into America, and by 1798 every State had outlawed slave importation. During the founding era, eight States proceeded to abolish slavery, either gradually or immediately. Were these good steps? Yes. Were they enough? Certainly not.
Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, forbidding slavery in the territory where the future States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin would be established. This law proved to be decisive in ending slavery in America. In the 1850s, Abraham Lincoln cited the Northwest Ordinance frequently to show that the Founders opposed the expansion of slavery. And, in the 1860s, these States, along with a number of their fellow States, formed the coalition that elected Lincoln President, won the Civil War, and abolished slavery nationwide.
The principle that all men are created equal and have a fundamental right to liberty gave the emancipation movement its foundation.
As James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers, defending the ratification of the Constitution, the Constitution was grounded on ``the fundamental principles of the revolution,'' namely, ``the transcendent laws of nature and of nature's God'' and ``the rights of humanity announced in the Declaration of Independence.''
Our first Republican President, Lincoln, understood this well. When Lincoln was a young man, he said the Founders established ``political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tell us.''
In the Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln explained that America was ``conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.'' As Lincoln argued to his opponent, Stephen Douglas, this equality applies to all human beings, regardless of race.
When President Lincoln spoke of America's earlier days, he said, ``I will remind Judge Douglas and this audience, that while Mr. Jefferson was the owner of slaves, as undoubtedly he was, in speaking upon this very subject, he used the strong language that he trembled for his Nation when he remembered that God was just.''
Mr. Speaker, from my faith background, I will tell you, God is just, and I do tremble when I consider his justice. I tremble when any person, in any way, pretends that white supremacy has any affinity with the Christian faith or its heritage, and, frankly, am very offended when that is brought up. The Bible is clear on the equality of all people. White people are entitled to no special privilege on this Earth, and they will have no unique standing in heaven. In fact, my Bible tells me we will all give account for what we do. Heaven is a place where every person there is united in bowing before the God who made us equal.
Knowing this, we understand that we should use this life to honor our brothers and sisters without exception. As James tells us, ``If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin.''
Partiality is unacceptable in God's economy, and racial prejudice finds no shelter among American values. Favoritism rooted in racism is evil in all its forms, including white supremacy and white nationalism.
Today, Madam Speaker, is a day like many others. Today, like every day, the world is watching America to see if we still believe in equality, if we still elevate human dignity at every turn, and if we will reject hypocrisy whenever it tries to take root among us. Today, our fellow citizens are watching to see their leaders live out the American principles alongside them.
Today, I stand here with colleagues to reaffirm these values and reject white supremacy as both dangerous and foolish. Its tenets are as ridiculous as America's democracy is remarkable.
Today, Madam Speaker, our message is, as it ever was, that every person is created equal in value, and that the hill of equality is one Americans will stand tall to defend, and, yes, even die to defend.
We are all, Madam Speaker, created in God's wonderful image. He made us and he breathed life into us. We are the very essence of his beloved creation. There is not a person you will find today, Madam Speaker, no one--I challenge you from the depths of any prison, to the sidewalks of any major city, anywhere in this country, White, Black, any color imaginable, any race imaginable, any place that they come from, male or female--there is not one person you will find today that, when you look into their eyes, they are not deeply beloved by their God who created them, and how can we choose any different. Any ideology that comes in face-to-face confrontation with God's creation is an abomination, and that is exactly what this ideology is.
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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).
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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Miller).
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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, we have heard from many here today, and I think we have all come to a common theme, and the common theme goes back to the simple rule that most of us would have learned growing up--and we have heard it referenced here today, but it may be as simple as in kindergarten--you hold hands; you look after each other; you treat people with respect no matter where they come from, what they look like, what the color of their skin is, what their gender may be, or what religion they may practice.
What is true on the floor today and what should be true in the hearts of every American--and, frankly, not just every American, but those around the world--is that we realize that we have been given a gift by God, that we have been given the strength by God, and we have been given the hope by God to treat each other with dignity, respect, and love. When we understand that, then it takes away.
But we also, Madam Speaker, today have realized that, when we as Members speak, people pay attention and people hold us accountable. We have talked about that in many ways, and that cannot continue in the way that we have seen it.
White supremacy is wrong. White nationalism is wrong. Anti-Semitism is wrong.
When we divide ourselves and we classify ourselves against each other, we bring ourselves down, not those whom we go after.
As long as we ever have anyone in this country who believes that they can climb to the top on the backs of others because they make fun of their race, their gender, their ethnicity, or any other thing, then we devalue the very breath that God gives us.
Madam Speaker, as I said earlier when I opened this up, there is not anyone we face today, anyone we come in contact with today who is not inherently and deeply loved by God. And it is pretty simple; He breathed life into them. I believe it with all that I am here.
And if I can believe that God created each and every person I see and everything we see around us, how can I not value that creation? How can I not stand against anyone who would tear that down, especially if there was ever a thought in this country from anybody, anywhere, to take and say this is a Christian value? Then I challenge them and say there will be a judgment. It is already written down that no man stands that way.
So today it is pretty simple. Place a ``yes'' vote on the floor. We support this resolution because it is not an American value; it is not what we stand for.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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