Bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol stalled by Missouri's Blunt
Posted by Riverbender on June 19, 2020, 9:43 pm
Hey Illinois Democrats...no sneaking to Missouri to escape the fear put onto your ruler Pritzker. LOL Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has blocked a bill to remove 11 statues honoring members of the Confederacy from the U.S. Capitol, saying he wanted to slow the process down.
Senate Democrats sought to pass the Confederate Monument Removal Act by unanimous consent, meaning it would clear the chamber without a formal vote as long as no legislator objected. Practically all routine Senate business is handled this way. Blunt objected, stating he wanted to consider a hearing and to understand what the states would do with the statues if they were removed.
“I’d like to ... get the opinion of people who are taking similar statues out of the building. I’d also like to find out what other states have in mind as their part of this agreement,” Blunt said. “I’d certainly like to have some time to see if we should have a hearing on this.
“It would have the effect of abandoning agreements that we have entered into with the states and the states have entered with us,” he added. “This is a more complicated arrangement than the activity on the floor today would suggest.”
The legislation, introduced by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., last week, would remove the statues of anyone who voluntarily served in the Confederacy from the National Statuary Hall Collection within 120 days of passage. The bill was previously introduced by Booker and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., in 2017 but never gained traction.
“Individuals who committed treason against the United States of America and led our nation into its most painful and bloody war to preserve the institution of slavery are not patriots and should not be afforded such a rare honor in this sacred space,” said Booker, who is Black. “The continued presence of these statues in the halls of Congress is an affront not just to Black Americans, but to the very ideals we as a nation proclaim, that we are a place of liberty and justice for all.”
“Candidly, I don’t think it would be too imposing to ask our states not to send statues of people who actively fought against this country,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “You know, there is a reason that Connecticut doesn’t send a statue of Benedict Arnold.”
Navy Lt. William Edmund Newsome looks at a bronze statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis that stands inside Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Navy Lt. William Edmund Newsome looks at a bronze statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis that stands inside Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Each state is allowed to contribute two statues to the hall, and Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia all have bestowed that honor on men who served the Confederacy. Both of Mississippi’s are tied to the Confederacy, including the secessionist president, Jefferson Davis. In 2018, Florida passed legislation to replace the statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith with one of Mary McLeod Bethune, an African-American educator and civil rights activist.
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the removal of portraits of four speakers who had served in the Confederacy.
“As I have said before, the halls of Congress are the very heart of our democracy,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Clerk Cheryl L. Johnson requesting the removal of the portraits. “There is no room in the hallowed halls of Congress or in any place of honor for memorializing men who embody the violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy.”
On Thursday, the portraits were removed and placed into House collection storage. Slave labor contributed to the construction of the Capitol building itself.
“We didn’t know about this until we were taking inventory of the statues and the curator told us that there were four paintings of speakers in the Capitol of the United States, four speakers who had served in the Confederacy,” Pelosi said Thursday.
The push to remove Confederate tributes from the Capitol is part of a nationwide — and, in some instances, global — movement to take down monuments to historical figures who are associated with slavery or racism. Statues of Confederate officers, mayors who oppressed black communities, Spanish conquistadors who massacred indigenous populations and explorer Christopher Columbus have been taken down across the nation, either by civilians or by authorities trying to head off possibly dangerous spontaneous action by demonstrators.
Congress is also considering the renaming of 10 U.S. military bases named after Confederates, a move for which Blunt has expressed support.
“I expressed my belief that it would be absolutely appropriate, in my view, to review the names of the forts … that are named after Confederate military leaders and change those names,” said Blunt, comparing the issue with the statue selections, which he argued require state-level approval. “And we can do that all on our own.”
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Yahoo Celebrity Chip and Joanna Gaines's daughter asks Emmanuel Acho if he's 'afraid of white people' Suzy Byrne Suzy ByrneEditor, Yahoo Entertainment Yahoo CelebrityJune 19, 2020, 8:32 PM UTC
Chip and Joanna Gaines brought their whole family along to appear on “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man.”
The first couple of home renovation talked with former NFL star turned sports analyst Emmanuel Acho about what they could do as parents to inform and educate their children about race, Black history in America and the Black Lives Matters movement. Their kids — Drake, 15, Ella, 13, Duke, 12, Emmie, 10, and Crew, 1 — participated, even asking tough questions like: Is Acho is “afraid of white people”?
“If we truly want to bring forth change, it not only starts with you and I, but it’s also about the next generation,” Acho said at the top of the show. So that’s why the sports star was happy to continue the conversation about race along with the “next generation.”
And the kids came prepared. Emmie asked Acho, “Are you afraid of white people?” He replied, “That’s what I love about children,” calling it a “phenomenal question. I’m not afraid of white people. I am cautious of white people.”
He explained, “I think about water and electricity. Water is necessary for life. Electricity is also necessary for life. But I do understand if those two have a negative interaction, it could be lethal. ... The beautiful thing of children and about children is that we learn things as kids and it develops us as adults, which is why you all being here with your children is the most powerful thing because this conversation could be life-changing — and not necessarily for their lives, but for the life of someone who looks like me.”
Jo shared that she and Chip have been having a dialogue with their kids amid the death of George Floyd and ongoing Black Lives Matter protests.
“The other day, he was wanting to get a pulse on, ‘What are our kids thinking about all of this?’” she recalled. “And so he asked the kids a question: ‘Pretend like you’re at a gas station and you see a Black man and a white man. Are you more threatened by either of those two men?’ And the kids, really quick, all said, ‘No, why?’ They didn’t even think about that.”
She said she and Chip were patting themselves on the back for raising “color-blind” kids, but “then we started kind of pushing back on that.” She asked Acho what he thought about the concept.
Chip and Joanna Gaines appear with their children in Episode 3 of "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man" with Emmanuel Acho. (Image: "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man"/YouTube) Chip and Joanna Gaines appear with their children in Episode 3 of "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man" with Emmanuel Acho. (Image: "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man"/YouTube) “I think that it’s best that we raise our kids to see color, because there’s a beauty in color and there’s a beauty in culture,” Acho answered.
He continued, “I think that if we don’t see color — if we don’t expose our children to different colors, to different races — then it’ll be the same thing as a white kid who becomes an adult: You won’t be able to decipher the difference between a Black man that’s a threat and a Black man that’s just Black.”
Similarly, “A Black person won’t be able to decipher between a white person that’s a racist and a white person who’s just white and may happen to be racially ignorant,” Acho added. “I think there’s a strength, a beauty in seeing color. I don’t like the concept of color blindness.”
Chip asked how we can get the people who may not view themselves as racially ignorant to come around to see it.
“History is meant to be remembered, but history isn’t always meant to be celebrated,” Acho said. “I think we have racism so ingrained into our culture, we don’t even realize we are blind to it.”
Acho went on to talk about how his white brothers and sisters need to open their eyes to see things like how having schools named after Confederate generals is disturbing for a Black person — especially one who attends that school.
“Maybe having statues littered across campuses that I have to look at of men who would have oppressed and enslaved and potentially executed me, maybe that’s a problem,” Acho said. “So I think that in America we need to do a better job of properly discussing and placing our heroes.”
During the conversation, Chip revealed that he reached out to his fellow Texan Acho after seeing his poignant debut episode of the YouTube show. Last week’s guest, Matthew McConaughey, was similarly touched by the premiere installment.
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Re: Bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol stalled by Missouri's Blunt
When are Robert Byrds statues going to be taken down and the gazaillion roads, schools and bridges named after him be renamed? The Conscience of the Senate was what Democrats called him. Quite a title wasnt it?? BTW check out William Jefferson Clintons mentor when you get a chance, Senator William Fulbright was his name.