Racism Infused in Texas Politics
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed, unafraid; censured, but not silenced.
I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to address the topic of racism infused in Texas politics.
Mr. Speaker, I have in my hand a letter from the Justice Department. It is a letter that has as its reference Unconstitutional Race-Based Congressional Districts, and then it cites the districts: Texas District 9, occupied by a person of color; Texas 18 was occupied by a person of color, who is deceased, to be filled soon; District 29, occupied by a person of color; District 33, occupied by a person of color.
Now, this letter goes on to infuse race into the conversation. The last sentence in the last paragraph reads: ``If the State of Texas fails to rectify the racial gerrymandering of TX-09, TX-18, TX-29, and TX-33, the Attorney General reserves the right to seek legal action against the State, including without limitation under the 14th Amendment.''
Race has been infused into this letter. It was sent to the Honorable Greg Abbott, the Governor of the State of Texas, and the Honorable Ken Paxton.
Dear friends, at the end of the day, if they can fulfill what they proclaim in this letter, there will be more White representation in Congress from Texas and less Black and Latino representation. This is nothing more than an attempt to silence many of the voices that are emanating from communities of color in the State of Texas. It is racist.
Now, in this country there seems to be a problem with people saying ``racism.'' It is okay to say ``anti-Semitism,'' but don't say ``racism.'' Racism has not received the same amount of acclaim when it comes to dealing with racist issues that anti-Semitism has received when it comes to dealing with things that are anti- Semitic.
Well, I am not afraid. I am going to speak truth to power and about power. Here is the truth: Under this President, Republicanism is eroding and devolving into racism. This President has declined to allow persons from countries of color to come into the country when he has opened the door to Anglos from South Africa. This President has found a way to circumvent what would ordinarily be a society that appreciates and respects people of all colors, and he is turning society against people of color.
This letter, if they succeed with this, will be the equivalent of having a mid-decade redistricting without the empirical evidence necessary to do it with a sense of justice. They will do this, and in so doing, it is comparable to having the halftime at a basketball game, and one team decides, because they have the power to do so, to remove two players from the other team and let that team proceed with three players, and they will now proceed with five. Oh, no, wait, you have to have 10 players on the floor, so what they will do is they will just take those 2 players and add them to their team. They will play with seven, and the other team will play with three.
They are diminishing the amount of representation that people of color will have in the State of Texas. Republicanism is being equated to racism too often in this country, and that is not the case. Republicanism has always been about conservative policies, but now they are about racist policies.
This President is infusing, injecting racism into Presidential policy. It is unconstitutional. I am going to fight it, but more than that, I am going to tell the truth about it. If I happen to be one of those who is extricated, who is removed, evicted, I will be bloodied but unbowed.
Mr. Speaker, nobody is going to silence me. You can come after me, but you won't stop me. You won't silence me. I refuse to allow Republicanism in the form of racism to dictate the policies in the State of Texas without my voice being heard.
Finally, this: I say to my friends that I have on my Texas tie. I am proud to represent my State. I am proud to say I stand against Republicanism as racism.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source