By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
kmcneir@afro.com
Black and Brown lawmakers are condemning Congress’s decision to create a national day of remembrance for slain conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk.
Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) condemned Kirk’s death among other forms of political violence, but questioned Republicans’ attempts to venerate someone who espoused racist views.
“Violence has no place in our politics, whether it is the murder of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman, the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, or the killing of Charlie Kirk,” Clarke said in a statement on behalf of all the CBC members. “Too many times in our nation’s history, political differences have turned to violence – violence that our community, in particular, knows too well from the assassinations of Black leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, and Fred Hampton, among others.
“At the same time, we must condemn violence without abandoning our right to speak out against ideas that are inconsistent with our values as Americans,” said Clarke. “It is, unfortunately, an attempt to legitimize Kirk’s worldview – a worldview that includes ideas many Americans find racist, harmful, and fundamentally un-American.”
Only a simple majority was required for House Resolution 719 to pass in the lower chamber. And while the Republicans overwhelmingly voted “Yay,” with 215 supporting the resolution and four not voting, the vote among Democrats was far more varied than some might expect.
Ninety-five Democrats voted to support the memorialization, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and four members from the state of Maryland: Sarah Elfreth, Jamie Raskin, Steny Hoyer, and Johnny Olszewski.
Kirk was killed on Sept. 10 while speaking to college students in Utah at Utah Valley University. A memorial was scheduled for Sept. 20 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. One day before the memorial, which was expected to draw thousands, the Senate unanimously approved a resolution on Sept. 19, to make Oct. 14, the birthday of Charlie Kirk, a special day.
Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, spearheaded debate prior to the passage of the approved resolution, in which the Senate “recognizes Charlie Kirk for his contributions to civic education and public service” and “encourages educational institutions, civic organizations and citizens across the United States to observe this day.”
In his comments to the press after the House approved the resolution, also on Sept. 19, House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed his disappointment that 96 Democrats declined to support the resolution.
“The final line of the resolution called upon all Americans to reject political violence, recommit to respectable debate, uphold American values, and respect one another as Americans,” he said adding that he believed it was a sentiment affirmed by Americans on both sides of the aisle.
Twenty-two Democrats walked out without voting on the Kirk resolution, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband Paul counts as a previous victim of political violence.
Four Republicans also left the Chamber prior to the vote.
After the resolution was passed, Maryland Congressman Kwesi Mfume explained why he could not support the measure.
“Political violence is vile, wicked, and destructive to the core of our democracy,” he said in a statement. “And yet, two things can be true at once – I stand against all forms of violence by sick, evil, and demented people while at the same time rejecting Charlie Kirk’s selectively harmful and divisive rhetoric. That’s why I voted against House Resolution 719.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), one of 58 Democrats who voted against the resolution, offered fiery testimony on the House floor that was recorded and aired by C-Span.
“ assassination was a horrific and vile attack of political violence, and condemning the depravity of a Charlie Kirk’s murder is a straightforward matter. We can deeply disagree and come together as a country to denounce the horror of his killing it is not a license for the abuse of power and the whitewashing of American history,” she said.
“We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was – a man who believed that the Civil Rights Act that granted Black Americans the right to vote was a mistake. His rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant, uneducated, and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans – far from the ‘working tirelessly to promote unity’ asserted in this resolution.”
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