Republican Rep. Nancy Mace slammed for ‘racist’ bill to eliminate Congressional Black Caucus
TheGrio...
The proposal to eliminate race-based congressional caucuses sparked swift backlash from Democratic leaders, who called it a racist political stunt.
A bill to eliminate the Congressional Black Caucus, introduced by conservative firebrand U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), is being slammed as racist by Democratic leaders.
The resolution, introduced on Thursday, calls for ending all race-based caucuses in Congress. Mace, a controversial congresswoman who has repeatedly clashed with Black lawmakers and targeted minority and LGBTQ+ members of Congress, described caucuses like the CBC as “segregation by the legislative branch.”
“Race-based caucuses are not about diversity,” Mace said in a statement. “You do not get to lecture America about inclusion while running an organization checking skin color at the door or advocating for Americans of one race over another. It is discrimination under the guise of diversity. Our resolution calls it what it is and shuts it down for good.”
In a joint statement, U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, rebuked Mace’s resolution as racist.
The caucuses were joined by Democratic leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, Minority Leader, U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Minority Whip, U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Democratic Caucus Chair, U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.).
“Nancy Mace rose to infamy for her cheap political stunts, and this is just the latest distraction from her failed primary and complete inability to deliver for her constituents,” the coalition of Democrats said of Mace, referring to her unsuccessful run for South Carolina governor, in which she placed fifth.
“Members of Congress have every right to organize around shared policy priorities and the constituencies they serve. There are dozens of bipartisan congressional caucuses dedicated to ethnic communities, geographic regions, industries, veterans, faith traditions, and countless other interests,” the caucuses explained. “Singling out the Congressional Tri-Caucus—which represents nearly half of all Americans—is racist and a shameless attempt to silence the voices of minorities.”
The Congressional Black Caucus, originally named the Democratic Select Committee, was founded in 1969 and officially established with its current name in 1971, following the height of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The expansion of civil and voting rights, driven by the movement’s advocacy for Black Americans, led to a record number of Black members of Congress.
Founding members included U.S. Reps. Shirley Chisholm, Bill Clay, George W. Collins, John Conyers, Ron Dellums, Charles Diggs, Augustus Hawkins, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren Mitchell, Robert N. C. Nix Sr., Charles Rangel, Louis Stokes, and Washington, D.C. Delegate Walter Fauntroy.
The CBC was intended for members to organize around policies to address systemic racism and other issues impacting millions of Black Americans. Today, CBC membership is at its largest in history, with 62 members; however, the size of the caucus could shrink following November’s midterm elections as Republican-led Southern states redistrict congressional maps and eliminate traditionally majority-Black districts.
“The Congressional Tri-Caucus was formed to address the needs and concerns of Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander American communities that are too often ignored in the halls of power,” said Democrats. “These caucuses existed long before Nancy Mace arrived in Congress, and will remain long after she fades into irrelevancy.”
While Mace entered Congress in 2021 as a somewhat moderate Republican who condemned President Donald Trump‘s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, she has evolved over the years into an ultra-conservative and has been accused of being racist and transphobic for statements she’s made about Black and Muslim members of Congress. She’s also had controversies outside of Congress, including an airport meltdown in which she called staff “f–king incompetent.”
In their condemnation of Mace, the group of caucus leaders said they do not “need a lecture about what constitutes federally sanctioned segregation—least of all from a member who has repeatedly made racist and bigoted comments about minority communities over the course of her tenure in Congress.”