Senate Republicans blocked a bill from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) that would have removed all Confederate statues and monuments from the US Capitol.
Sen. Booker said, “We cannot separate these things from one another— the glorification of traitors who fought to uphold slavery, the disenfranchisement of Black Americans, and the horrific violence and systemic use of lynching as a tool of racial terror– because they are not separate from one another, they are connected.”
Booker added, “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. 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.”
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Booker asked for unanimous consent to pass the Confederate Monument Removal Act, he was blocked by Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri.
Republicans have chosen to glorify traitors to the United States of America and slavery at a time when millions of Americans are protesting and demanding action on systemic racism. When asked to choose between innocent African-Americans being murdered by the police, and the Confederacy, Senate Republicans have chosen the Confederacy.
If there is one thing that the Senate should agree on 100-0, it is that slavery should not be glorified, but Trump is defending the Confederacy, so Senate Republicans are going to follow him off the cliff and kiss their majority goodbye in November.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
